After his first hard court match in almost a year – a 7-6, 6-1 win over young American Ryan Harrison – Rafa Nadal reflected on life, love and rules he hates.
Q. How satisfied were you by the way you played?
RAFAEL NADAL: I am satisfied to be in the next round. That's the most important thing. I am satisfied to be here playing at Indian Wells. Two weeks ago I didn't really know if I would be here playing. Good victory for me today against a good opponent.
Q. How do you feel after the match?
RAFAEL NADAL: I am fine, yeah. My physical performance needs to improve. My movements need to improve.
Q. Were you able to go out there and say, I'm going to run as much as I can? I don't care what my knees feel like, I'm just going to play?
RAFAEL NADAL: No, I try my best in every moment, no? After seven months I'm not gonna take crazy risks. But I am here. When I am playing a tournament, my mentality is try my best in every moment.
I really don't think about my knee, but is true that for me today after seven months out of competition is easier to start and play on clay.
Q. Here in America it's hard court, hard court, hard court. Do you think there should be more clay court tournaments?
RAFAEL NADAL: I don't want to say that, because anything that I will say not gonna affect my career.
It's more medical things than players think. Hard courts are aggressive for the body.
If for the next generations want to have longer careers and want to finish his careers with better conditions physically, that's my humble opinion. ATP have to find a solution and not continue playing more and more tournaments on this surface that is the harder one for the joints, for the knees, for the foot, for the ankles, for the back, for everything.
Q. You're the main one who talks about wanting to have more tournaments not on hard courts. Not as many as the other top players discuss that. Do you think it's more your personal experience … ?
RAFAEL NADAL: Depends. If you will ask a player who plays fantastic on this court is a thing that sorry. At the end, we are here. At the end, it's an individual game. At the end, everybody thinks for himself.
And if somebody plays great on this surface, it's difficult to go against this surface, no? … So they not gonna go against the hard court. That's why I say is not another players' thing, it's a medical thing. Somebody have to think not for today. I repeat: I'm not talking about my career. My career is done.
We gonna finish my career playing on the same or more tournaments on hard, because that's the dynamic. But, yes, no, my opinion is for the next generations that something have to change.
Q. Is it kind of amazing how healthy Roger has stayed throughout his career, considering all the hard court tennis he's played?
RAFAEL NADAL: No. It's amazing? I don't think so. I think, you know, he's very good. But I think he's very lucky to have this talent, no? The talent of Roger is amazing, and the things that he's able to do … All the players, we are not able to play this way. He win a lot of matches with short points; win a lot of matches with the serve, with one forehand. That's why he's able to keep having big, big career and very long.
That's amazing thing that's have a lot of value … He's great, and for many reason he's the best of the history, no?
Q. You have many fans. It's been said that really no one was quite missed like the way you were missed these last months. Has there been one moment, one comment, that has been particularly touching to you, that reflects on the appreciation people have?
RAFAEL NADAL: I feel the love of the peo
ple during all this time. When you are winning and you are playing is great to have all this support, because, you feel important; you feel great on court. But when you are off [the circuit,] when you are not having your best moment and you receive as many messages as I did, I receive, you know, in my personal phone, in the Twitter and Facebook, is something very important.
And seriously, you know, that's gives me a lot of energy, no, to keep doing, to keep trying hard every day. When I was back and I played in South America, Brazil, Chile and in Mexico, the support more than ever was really, really amazing.
When you feel that support of the people, when you go on court, when you are walking around, is something that you cannot appreciate sometimes when you are doing, when you are having that every week. But when you come back after seven months, you know how you really understand how much you miss it.
Q. Just back to hard courts, you have won US Open, Australia, here, Canada, Cincinnati.
RAFAEL NADAL: Madrid. Cincinnati didn't play well there. Never (Laughter.)
Q. But you have won a lot of big tournaments on hard courts.
RAFAEL NADAL: I prefer to play on clay because I am much better on clay than hard. But, after winning a lot of tournaments on hard and having a fantastic career, if we pull out all my clay court titles and just analyze my career outside of clay, I had a much better career that I ever dreamed.
That's why I feel that I have the chance to express my opinion, because I was able to play very well on hard for a long time and that's give me the confidence to say that to you.
Q. So in a sense, though, you're saying maybe you sacrificed maybe too much of your body to win those tournaments on hard courts?
RAFAEL NADAL: No. I did what I had to do to be happy … Seems stupid say like if I will be back on time I will not change nothing, because I will change things for sure, 100%.
Q. Tonight's was a very quick match.
RAFAEL NADAL: That's true. I played much faster, no? And I am doing because somebody very smart puts a new rule that is a disaster. Not in places like here that is dry, not very humid place, but is completely disaster when we are playing in tournaments like Acapulco, Brazil, or Chile. I cannot support that, because the rule is wrong. The rules go against the great points of tennis. If you see the highlights of the end of the season, you did not see not one ace.
The best points of the season are long rallies, amazing points. With this 25 seconds, you play a long rally and you think you can play another long rally next point? No. So go against the good tennis.
So the guy who really accepted this rule was not very smart … Even if you don't have time for the TV to repeat a good point, and then the referee, I don't know what he's doing on his chair. We can play without referee 100%. The lines on every line, HawkEye, now 25 seconds. He don't have to analyze nothing. He just have to put the clock and that's it. Then we can play. Put the clock on court and play without umpire, because it's not necessary anymore because the umpire is not enough good to analyze if the match is being hard, if somebody is losing time, penalize him with a warning.
If both players are going the same way because you are playing a great point and you need to rest 40 seconds after the point, we don't need anymore umpire … I went back to my matches, great matches, in Grand Slams, playing long rallies in big tournaments, and when you play like a 30, 40 shots rally like final of Roland Garros, like final of Australia, you know, how much time we rested?
You have to see the third set of the US Open 2011 against Djokovic, and you tell me if the crowd was very happy about what happened in that set or not, and tell me if with this new rule that can happen again. Please.
