Before Indian Wells, Nadal's base level

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Francis Roig, one of the coaches of Rafael Nadal, speaks very clearly before the number two in the world premieres this Sunday afternoon in Indian Wells against Jared Donaldson (1-0 in the face to face) and open his participation in the first Masters 1000 of the year after bidding farewell in the second round of Acapulco against Nick Kyrgios in an electrical match, decided by details (with three match points missed by the Balearic Islands) and marked by the crossing of statements that followed the elimination of the champion of 17 great.

"A defeat against Kyrgios in the second round you can never take it well being a player at the level of Rafa," said the Catalan coach, who along with Tomeu Salvà accompanies the tennis player in California. "It's not an excuse, but I did not come very prepared. If they had faced each other in a more advanced round, perhaps it would have been different because they had many options to win, "continued Roig, referring to the 6-3 that Nadal had in the tie-break of the decisive sleeve to have won. "The positive part is that he showed a high level and without being able to train much he had his opportunities. That says everything about Rafa: without preparing well he was several times to a point of winning ".

"Obviously," said Nadal, "I would have loved to win in Australia and Acapulco, but that's the way sport is. I can not be unhappy after what I've been through in recent months, "added the Mallorcan, who since September of last year has gone through three different injuries (right knee, abdominal and left thigh) and an operation (right foot) that They have forced to jerk, stopping. "To my body, too much has happened in the last year and a half, but I have managed to keep feeling ready to fight for the most important tournaments. This is vital for my mental health: to feel competitive when I go out to play. "

Nadal was not in the first Masters 1000 of the year last season as a result of a relapse in the psoas-iliac of his right leg, an injury that forced him to leave in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, and then lose Acapulco, Indian Wells and Miami. The coup could have continued in 2019, because the Mallorcan hurt his right wrist training at Costa Mujeres when preparing Acapulco, endangering the appointments of his calendar, something that finally came to nothing.

"He's ready to compete," Roig said. "When we arrived, the first two or three days, we were doing more specific training through exercises. He lacked a bit of mobility, although he came hitting the ball very well. We have influenced the reverse cut with the aim of getting more performance, "confessed the coach of the Balearic. "Then, little by little, we started playing sets training with Fognini, Schwartzman and Rublev, looking for the most aggressive way to play. Without going crazy, as always, but avoiding being passive. We have tried things, but without doing anything special. "

On Saturday night, Nadal prepared to debut in the first Masters 1000 of the calendar sitting down to listen to Julio Iglesias in Indio, a 15-minute drive from Indian Wells. There, the tennis player relaxed with some of the singer's most famous songs, which for some time has been linked by a good friendship ("I would like you to be my brother", the composer came to tell him in the middle of a concert in Barcelona, Nadal attended with his partner), usual source of motivation in the minutes before their games in the locker room.

As of Sunday, Nadal has run out of time to think about other things: the first encounter with Donaldson, a potential round of 16 against Daniil Medvedev, the semifinals against Roger Federer, the dream of raising the trophy for the fourth time ( 2007, 2009 and 2013) in the desert or the climate (worse than other years, with temperatures below normal in Indian Wells and quite windy) occupy the head of the world number two in its third tournament of the year.

This time, unlike Acapulco, Nadal arrives with something more than his base level.