World number one Rafael Nadal admitted on Friday that a virus he caught this week almost forced him out of the Rome Masters to protect his chances of defending his Roland Garros title. Nadal moved into the semi-finals with a powerful 6-1, 6-3 victory over big-serving Croatian Marin Cilic to ensure that he cannot lose his top ranking this week. But Nadal admitted he was very close to pulling out.
“I thought a lot about it. It’s not the first time this happened,” he said. “It happened in Doha and then in Australia but it also happened the same in Switzerland in the Davis Cup three years ago. “Then I didn’t feel well during the week before and I had to stop practising the day before. “I started to feel better and I tried to play. I tried to hold on, to go as far as I can and I hurt a muscle. Normally I never have something (wrong) with the muscles, never. “But this only happens to me when I have a fever and so it was a hard decision.
“Especially because before going on court (on Wednesday) I felt tired but I didn’t know what I had and I didn’t know why or what happened and I only understood later. “It was an important decision for me because this tournament is very important for me, but Roland Garros is very important for me,” he said. “I was lucky, I didn’t have to leave yesterday (Thursday) but you never know with a virus if it will stay, whether it is the beginning or the end.”
Nadal is the defending two-time champion here and also the reigning French Open champion. In terms of his world number one position he is defending a lot of points here and in Paris, whereas Djokovic reached only the quarter-finals in both last year. Although he cannot take the top spot this week even if he wins this tournament, a significant improvement in his results here and at Roland Garros would see him move to the top of the pile at the French Open.
