‘Something might be broken in him!’ – Stefanos Tsitsipas in awe of absurd Rafael Nadal mindset
Stefanos Tsitsipas highlighted Rafael Nadal’a ridiculous record at the French Open as one of the most impressive things he can take from spending time with the Big Four at the Laver Cup.
The Greek star took to the O2 Arena centre court second on Friday, defeating world number 17 Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 6-1 to put Team Europe up 2-0 as they look for a fifth successive Laver Cup title.
As Tsitsipas and fellow players of a younger generation play alongside the greats of Roger Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, Tsitsipas gave his reflections on the ‘King of Clay’.
“Rafa is incredibly humble,” Tsitsipas said in his post-match press conference, before a pause and adding: “Something might be broken in there, because 26 Roland Garros titles in a row is not humanly normal.
“I think there needs to be like a filter change, because this is incredible, I think about it very often. This takes a lot of not just talent but dedication and not understanding what you have done in order to continue doing that year after year.”
Though Tsitsipas was exaggerating, it is astounding that Nadal has claimed 14 Slam titles in Paris, as many Majors as previous men’s record holder Pete Sampras has in total across all four events.
The Spaniard will need to bring his best on a special occasion as he teams up with Federer for the Swiss’ final competitive match as the pair hope to be 3-0 on Team World should Murray defeat Alex de Minaur.
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