Nadal Unsure of French Open Participation

Rafael Nadal is still not sure if he is going to play at the French Open in June, saying he is sometimes only able to play at “40 per cent” at the moment.

Nadal, a 14-time champion at Roland Garros, couldn’t learn much from his comfortable straight-sets win over American teenager Darwin Blanch in the first round of the Madrid Open, cruising to a 6-1 6-0 victory over the mistake-prone 16-year-old on Thursday.

“I didn’t test much my body today,” the 37-year-old Nadal said. “I played a decent match doing the things that I had to do to be through, but at the same time I played against a player making more mistakes.”

“I try to play at my 100 per cent, but I can’t give my 100 per cent every day,” said Nadal.

“The thing is before, most of the time, I was able to give my 100 per cent of the 100 per cent. Today I’m able to give my 100 per cent of sometimes 40 per cent, sometimes 60 per cent, sometimes 70 per cent, and if I am able to raise this percentage day after day or week after week, why not in the future what can happen? If not, it’s impossible.”

Nadal looked in good form and showed no physical limitations in just his third competitive match since returning from his latest injury lay-off.

He had made his return in Barcelona last week, losing in the second round to Alex De Minaur, who will also be his second-round opponent in Madrid today.