Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2] def Kevin Kim (USA) 6-2 6-1 6-4 Day 6 - An interview with Rafael Nadal Friday, June 2, 2006 Q. What book are you reading? RAFAEL NADAL: Now, no one. I was beginning with DaVinci Code. But with the film be more fast, huh (laughter)? Q. Could you talk about your match today, please. RAFAEL NADAL: Maybe I begin bad. Beginning bad, a little bit nervous. I was not touching good the ball. After maybe I improve in the final of first set. In the second I improved and played better. In the third I made a break and finished, no? But normal match. Nothing special. Q. Right now it seems like no one can beat you on clay court. Why are you so much better than other players on clay? RAFAEL NADAL: I don't think I am too much better than other players. Maybe all is tough. Every match is a different history. Every match have a difficult moments and tough moments. I always try my best. I always try play hundred percent. But you never know, no? I know I can lose tomorrow, I can lose today. Every match, every day is difficult, no? Q. How important is the warmer weather for your game? RAFAEL NADAL: Today the court was very slow. For me, too much slow. Too much a lot of water on court. For that, was very slow, no? I prefer a little bit more fast. Q. Are you a little more relaxed now that the record is out of the way? Can you play more relaxed now that you have the record and all that is finished? RAFAEL NADAL: No, I am happy for the record. But for me the most important thing is Roland Garros. I was especially nervous in the first round, second round. Tomorrow I will be nervous ? for Roland Garros, not for the record. The record was very nice thing, but now I am playing a difficult tournament and I am thinking about that. . What happened to your feet in the third set? RAFAEL NADAL: My feet? In the third? Nothing. No, no, nothing. Nothing. First of all, this is not the bad foot, is the other one. Second, is just one problem with the tape. No, nothing in my foot. Q. I heard a story that even if you play left-handed, you are basically a right-hander. Is that true or just a story? RAFAEL NADAL: Yeah, I'm right-handed for eat, for take anything, for the position, for all, I right-handed. But for play football and tennis, left. (惊!这我现在才知道@@ 我跟Nadal情况刚好相反XD) Q. Why is that? RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. I can't choose that. (记者这问题有啥好追问的，就天生如此啊= =a) Q. Did a coach teach you to play left hand in your youth? RAFAEL NADAL: Maybe, I can't -- if I have any coach now, he want to teach me play with the right, I don't going to play good with the right. You born with that, no? THE MODERATOR: Questions in Spanish. Q. You were asked whether the weather is going to help you. He said they watered the courts. RAFAEL NADAL: The court was very slow. I think there was too much water. It was too wet. After that the ball I think is a little heavy and it sticks to the racquet. It's a bit difficult to play the balls. I prefer the court to be a little drier. You know, you've got to adapt to circumstances. Q. On Monday you won a match and got a trophy, then you didn't need to play until Friday. Do you feel this is a new tournament? RAFAEL NADAL: No. I've been training. I trained yesterday. You know, you still feel a bit under pressure. No, no, every day I was looking at what was happening. I don't feel that I really switched off. I'm going to be playing -- I played today, but I don't think it's tougher than having played two days in a row, no. Q. Vilas had a record at 25, and now you at 19 boast that record. Do you think you're going to break more records? RAFAEL NADAL: When you won 52 consecutive wins, it would have been a shame not to break that record, but I don't think I'll break that record again. Q. Until you're 25? RAFAEL NADAL: Well, if there's only one in history, I don't think I'm going to break all records. I think it makes sense, no. You know, these are opportunities you get once in your lifetime. Either you seize the opportunity or it passes you by. Q. Last year you had to play Gasquet and Grosjean. Your next opponent is Mathieu, who was a hero and a villain. He's a dangerous opponent. How are you going to play him and do you know him? RAFAEL NADAL: Yes, I've played him a few times. He's a good player. He plays quite well. He plays clean. He has a nice style. He's a good player and rather dangerous. I think what's important is that I play well on that day. If I play well, we'll see what happens. But it's always going to be a tough match because he is a tough player and he plays well on clay. I played him in Marseille this year and in Dubai, quarterfinals in Marseille and first round in Dubai. Marseille it was tough. Dubai I lost the first set to him. In Hamburg three years ago I played the first round. That was on clay, as well. We'll see. It's going to be a complicated match. Q. A question that has to do with my country, Chile. We had Rios, a left-handed player, who withdrew. He was more or less at the same age of Moya. Did you see him play and what do you think about having to play people who are much older? Do you think that makes sense? RAFAEL NADAL: You know, each person has their own life. Each person is different. Each person does what they can and what they want. If he withdrew, well, it's either because he couldn't continue or because he didn't really want to continue, or both. But I respect his decision. Each person makes their own decisions. Q. Do you remember him? RAFAEL NADAL: Yes, I remember him, yeah. Yeah, I remember him, obviously. He is an important player. He's a charismatic player. You know, I was a kid. Each match has its own history. I think the favorite here is Federer. We'll see what happens. Q. Now you play Mathieu. Gradually you might be favorite. You're going to play a Frenchman. What is going to happen with the press and public? RAFAEL NADAL: I'm carrying out an interview here. I don't feel any pressure. This is going to be a match here in Roland Garros against a French player who is playing at home. I think that's it. I don't think you need to interpret any more into that. It's just a tennis match. I don't think you need to think about too many things. I'll have to play well, and that's it. Don't try to put pressure on yourself to think, you know, is he Chilean or a Frenchman. It's irrelevant. You need to focus, play well, and make sure you win the match. That's the most important thing. Q. Tomorrow is your birthday. Do you want to say something about that? Are you going to celebrate? We had cake last year. RAFAEL NADAL: We'll see. Maybe. We'll see what happens in the final. This year I hope I can celebrate the same way. But, yeah, why not have a party, but later. Q. Apart from the results and opponents, what would you say about yourself? How do you feel about the way you're playing? RAFAEL NADAL: Normal. You know, neither smashing nor anything painful, just normal. Nothing particular to say. I think I'm playing normally. I think tomorrow I'll play better than I played today. I think if I win tomorrow, I'll play even better because if I win matches, I tend to feel better. You gain confidence, you adapt to the conditions. I think the most important thing is that I've won my first two matches. Tomorrow is a difficult match, but I'll try to win it. It's going to be difficult, but I hope I win it, then we'll see what happens. Q. You said you play football with your left foot. What position do you like to play? When you played as a kid, what were you like? RAFAEL NADAL: Well, if you want to recruit me as a footballer, here I am. Goalkeeper, maybe. Q. Have you solved the problem with the strings? RAFAEL NADAL: Yes. That was the best item of news today because when I went to train, I saw the strings hadn't been set correctly. I thought, maybe that's what's wrong. Maybe it's not me who is playing so badly. --

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