Rafa Nadal, who qualified this Saturday for the round of 16 at Wimbledon, assured that he was wrong to call Lorenzo Sonego into the net in the middle of the third set
Rafa Nadal complained in the final stretch of the match about Sonego’s behavior on the court, when he let out a shout while he was volleying and about his insistence that the roof be closed. However, after the meeting, the Balearic intoned the ‘mea culpa’: “I think I was wrong”Nadal said at a press conference. “I have spoken with him with total calm. I have exposed a situation that was happening. If I went back I would not do it again. I had told the referee before, the referee, who is one of the best, was waiting for the change to tell him something”.
“We are among colleagues, who see each other every week. There are some codes within a tennis court that have to be respected. I think I was wrong to call the network and tell him things. I should have told him in the change sides or wait for the referee to tell him. During the match things have been happening,” Nadal explained.
“The reality is that there was a clear direction when it came to knowing when the ceiling was going to close before the match. The referee had said that it was going to be at the end of a set. Then you have seen what has happened (it was closed ceiling with 4-2). When he hits the ball, he lengthens the shout with 4-3 at a key moment, when it hadn’t happened during the entire game. When I’m volleying and the shout lengthens, it’s annoying. We can’t know if he has done it deliberately or not”, added the Spaniard.
“Throughout the match we were going to stop during the end of a set. And we were stopped at 4-2. I don’t understand that in any way. It’s surreal. I don’t know when court 1 was closed, but it gives me the sensation that has been after ours. There has been pressure from him throughout the match”, he explained. “There has been no bite. I have gone up to his locker room, I have apologized,” he said.
Regarding the match, in which he beat Sonego in three sets, Nadal stated that it was “without a doubt” his best match so far in the tournament. “I have done much better things than the other days. I have been able to play more aggressively, go to the net more. I am happy. I have made a very important effort to be here at Wimbledon. Mentally and physically. I am satisfied with it. This has been a positive day because I have taken a step forward”.