Nadal aware of need to improve

Rafael Nadal is looking to improve in the next round
2 June 2013

Rafael Nadal admits he must up his game if he is to win an eighth French Open title after another struggle against Fabio Fognini.

The defending champion had looked less than convincing against Daniel Brands and Martin Klizan, losing the opening set both times, and here he battled for two hours and 45 minutes. He did not drop a set against Fognini, a flashy Italian who is consistent only in being inconsistent, but he would have done had his opponent taken his chances.

Nadal was then broken to love the first time he served for the match before eventually digging out a 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 6-4 win. The Spaniard blasted tournament organisers on Friday for a schedule that meant he has not had a day off since Wednesday, and he is desperate to get back on to the practice court to iron out the cracks, saying: "If I want to have any chance, I really need to play better."

Nadal, who came into the tournament having won six of the eight events he has played in this season, added: "But it's always the same history. When you win without playing your best, you have the chance to play better. If you don't fight when you have tough days, then you don't have a chance for the future.

"The positive thing is that I played very well the last couple of weeks. It's not a moment where I didn't play well for two months or three months. I was playing well two weeks ago, so to play well is not far.

"What I need to do is play in a more relaxed way. I need to improve my timing. I need to work also on the direction of my shots, the way I hit the ball, but really I'm missing calm.

"I need to improve my movements. I don't think that I move the right way. I stumble a lot and that's probably due to anxiety.

"I mean, we shouldn't delude ourselves. If I can calm down I will play better, otherwise I can go back to Majorca and go fishing. I mean, that will be the last option."

Next up for Nadal is 13th seed Kei Nishikori, who became the first Japanese man to reach the last 16 here for 75 years with a four-set victory over Benoit Paire.

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