Nadal spoke at length about the decision to compete in singles for the first time since the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, feeling injury-free in the lead-up to the match against Van de Zandschulp, whom he’d led 2-0 in their head-to-head prior to Tuesday.
“I try to give him all the time the easier input to make him decide the way that he feels,” explained Nadal, who was nominated to compete in Davis Cup for Spain alongside former world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, Pedro Martinez, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Marcel Granollers. “I even give him more chances to put Roberto on the field than me during the whole week, but, I mean, he had the confidence to put myself, so at the end, I have nothing, not an injury, nothing important to say I’m not ready to play.
“If he watch both of us playing on the practices and he decide that, I respect it and I went on court, I try my best and thanks for the opportunity.”
