“This is the time to try”: Rafael Nadal prepares for one last push as Roland Garros looms

ROME, Italy—For all who watched Rafael Nadal compete at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, it appeared the 10-time champion was leaving everything on Campo Centrale in the hopes of winning his first match in Rome sine 2022.

Speaking after a three-set comeback against Zizou Bergs, Nadal instead insisted that he can—and must—unleash an even greater intensity and take more risks at the final clay-court Masters 1000 tournament before (what will likely be) his last trip to Roland Garros.

“Arrive the moment today that I need to try,” said the 22-time Grand Slam champion after defeating Bergs, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday. “I mean, I need to try to play at my hundred percent.”

Nadal, who has suggested that 2024 will be his final year on tour, elaborated that doubts about his physicality and injury fears have caused him to play it (relatively) safe through matches at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and Mutua Madrid Open, where he lost in the second round and fourth round, respectively.

“If something happens, something happens,” said Nadal, who re-injured his hip at the Brisbane International to start the season, forcing him to miss the Australian Open and BNP Paribas Open.

A reemergence of the abdominal injury that sidelined him for nearly all of 2023 led him to withdraw from the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, which was scheduled to be where Nadal kicked off his clay-court farewell tour, but Nadal explained that he can no longer afford to be concerned about re-aggravating old injuries or causing new ones.

I need to lose this fear. Matches like today help. Some moments I was moving faster. Some moments not. I need to get used to that, to take that risk. If something wrong happens, we going to accept it. But that's the moment to push. I feel more ready to try it than before. Rafael Nadal

“Is not like in Madrid, is not like in Barcelona, especially, that I need to analyze how the things are improving, to explore if I am able to adapt all these things to the new weeks. That's over and we are in Rome.”

After enduring a rough first practice at the Foro Italico, Nadal looked stronger through the subsequent days leading up to his match against Bergs, but struggled for rhythm for much of the first set and had to stave off multiple surges from Bergs before ultimately serving out the Belgian qualifier in two hours and 53 minutes.

If Nadal was feeling below his best, Bergs didn’t co-sign that analysis after facing down the former world No. 1 for the first time in his career.

“I mean, his game is very tough,” the 24-year-old said after the match. “It's so heavy. Such high-spin balls, playing my weaknesses. You can tell even his team did homework on me, what I don't like. The intensity he can give sometimes with his forehand and backhand, it's brutal. It's just a wonderful time playing him. It's what you want to do in your tennis career.

“I'm so grateful and humble to share this moment with him on this court in maybe his last season.”

While some might assume Nadal plans to reserve this intensity for the best-of-five format in Paris, he disabused the media in his post-match press conference.

“I am not talking only about Roland Garros. I am talking about the next match,” said Nadal, who will next face No. 7 seed Hubert Hurkacz. “I need to lose this fear. Matches like today help. Some moments I was moving faster. Some moments not. I need to get used to that, to take that risk.

“If something wrong happens, we going to accept it. But that's the moment to push. I feel more ready to try it than before.”