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I will have to engage Del Potro in long rallies: Nadal

Nadal says he will look to prevent Del Potro from playing his natural power game in the US Open semis

By Unnikrishnan
Rafel Nadal

New York, September 7: World number one Rafael Nadal said he will have to engage Juan Martin del Potro in long rallies when they meet in the US Open semifinals on Saturday (September 9).

"Juan Martin is a top player. It is true that when he's playing well, it's difficult to stop him. Probably, the forehand is the fastest on the tour. If he serves well and hit well his forehand, he's a player that have the chance to win against, of course, everybody," said Nadal.

"If I play against him, I need to be very focused with my serve and play aggressive, because if you let him play from good positions with his forehand, you are dead, because he plays super-aggressive, hitting so hard.

"So probably he's unstoppable from that positions. I need to play long, I need to play against his backhand, and then open the court," said the Spaniard.

Rublev, the Russian 19-year-old whom he beat in the quarterfinals, Nadal said was improving as a player and it's a good sign for tennis.

"He won against great players, competing very well. For the last six months, I think he improved a lot. That's so important. If he continues with that improvement, he gonna fight for the most important things that we have in our sport. I think he has the right people around. He has passion for what he's doing.

"He's a good guy, humble. Because if you believe that already, you know about everything, is tough to be enough humble, to work, wake up every morning, going on court and thinking about things you need to improve. So I believe he's a hard worker, and that's the most important thing," he added.

Story first published: Thursday, September 7, 2017, 11:16 [IST]
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