Some Articles on the Japan Open..Also the OOP is out, Rafa's is the fourth match of the day on Center Court, the second match, not before 2 PM local time.
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"The season has been unbelievable for me. Even if I lose every match in every tournament in the last four or five tournaments of the year."
"I had a few chances to win a tournament before Monte Carlo."
"In Monte Carlo, everything changed. I started winning. I got confidence. I could play with little bit more confidence, little bit less pressure. I played very, very well."
"It's difficult to change my strategy in a few days. You see how I was playing in Bangkok, you see how I lost that match. I have to change something," said Nadal.
"The surface (of the Ariake Coliseum centre court) is fast, it's one of the fastest on the tour. I already practiced for one hour, but it's not enough, I need a little bit more practice," said Nadal.
"I hope I will be ready for tomorrow. I will have a difficult match against Giraldo. It's very important to be ready and focused for tomorrow, because Giraldo is a very good player and very dangerous.
If I can win, then I will have one more day to practice."
Nadal set for Japan Open debut
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Kei Nishikori makes surprise appearance at first time Japan visitor Rafael Nadal's press conference!
Translated article:
Rafael Nadal, the main player who is visiting Japan for the first time, attended a press conference at the Ariake Colloseum. 'I am very happy to come to Japan. It is always exciting to come to a new country and learn more about it', said Rafa. But he has to get used to the apparently 'fastest court in the world' and so it appears he won't have much time to go around seeing places while he is not playing matches.
Nadal achieved the career Grand Slam at the US open and has won 6 titles so far this season. Half of them were at Grand Slams and the remaining were at Masters series, so he is at the very top leading by a wide margin. No. 2 Novak Djokovic is almost 5000 points behind him and Nadal's year end ranking of No.1 is already confirmed. When asked whether he has the motivation to fight during the rest of the reason, Nadal gave a typical answer - 'My motivation does not change because my goal is to put in effort to improve a little everyday'.
But given top players are prone to fatigue this time of the season, Nadal too lost in the Bangkok semifinals. He flew on the same evening to reach (Japan) early in the morning and during the flight, he couldn't sleep well because of the noise of thunder and appeared tired. Still, at the end of the press conference, when Kei Nishikori made a surprise entrance, one could see the 'Rafa smile'.
Nishikori encouraged Nadal telling him that 'Japan is a nice country with lot of beautiful places and delicious food'. If both of them keep progressing, they would meet in the semifinals. They both wished each other good luck with a solid handshake.
They both play their first matches tomorrow. Nadal plays Santiago Giraldo and Nishikori plays Victor Troicki, so it will be an exciting time at Ariake tomorrow.
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