Rafael Nadal is hoping to improve on his third round performance against Bernard Tomic at the Australian Open.
Nadal was tested at times against the talented Australian teenager, surely a future top ten player in the making. Tomic was in no way overawed by the big stage and at 4-0 up in the second set he had Nadal on the rack and looked set to level the match. The Spaniard's experience and class shone through as he fought back to seal a 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 win but he was not happy with his performance.
“I didn't play well tonight. I played short. The movements wasn't the best. The position on court wasn't the best either,” he told the press. “I have to change a few things if I really want to have chances to win the next match, and I gonna do it.”
Nadal was struggling with a fever during the Doha tournament in the opening week of the season and he admitted that he is still not perfect physically.
“I was perfect when I started the season in Abu Dhabi playing. I was playing perfect and I was feeling perfect physically. In Doha, I had that problem. I wasn't feel very well,” he said. “Hay fever and these things. Seems like after that my body is still not perfect. I am sweating more than usual. I am more tired than usual when I'm playing. That's what happen right now. That's the truth.”
