Coach reveals Nadal’s light-hearted joke following Thiem win
Rafael Nadal’s coach has revealed that the Spaniard joked about going back to training the day after his gruelling five-set thriller against Dominic Thiem in the US Open, according to a report on the Express.
The pair battled with one another for just under five hours as Nadal eventually came out on top to book his place in the semi-finals of the tournament.
It was a physically and mentally draining match for both players and Nadal will go up against Juan Martin Del Potro in the last four.
The world number one’s coach, Carlos Moya, has revealed that Nadal was given the next day off to rest himself, but he did joke about going straight back to training.
Moya said:
He had many demanding matches and we imagined that against Thiem it would also be like that. Rafa knows that I am very much in favour of shortening training, resting.
He even made a joke about this issue and when he finished playing with Thiem he asked me laughing, ‘what time did we enter the next day?’
The extra day [rest] has been good for him and he will be ready for the game.
The 32-year-old could find himself in the final against long-term rival Novak Djokovic but first, he must overcome Del Potro tonight.