Rafael Nadal has labelled a reporter’s question linking his recent marriage to his defeat in his opening match at the ATP Finals as “bulls***”.
The world No.1 was thoroughly outplayed in a 6-2 6-4 loss to defending champion Alexander Zverev on Monday and refused to blame his recent injury concerns for his sub-par performance.
However, the Spaniard was less than impressed in his press conference when a journalist asked whether his October marriage to longtime girlfriend Maria Francisca Perello had distracted him or altered his focus for the game.
“Honestly, are you asking me this? Is that a serious question or a joke?” Nadal said.
“OK. I am surprised. Is a big surprise for me you ask me this after I have been with the same girl for 15 years and having a very stable and normal life.
“Doesn’t matter if you put a ring on your finger or not… We move to Spanish, because that’s bulls***.
“Thank you very much.”
Nadal wouldn’t blame the abdominal problem that forced him to pull out of the Paris Masters semi-finals just nine days earlier, or a hand injury that kept him sidelined before that.
But something was clearly off for Nadal as he lost to Zverev for the first time in six meetings.
He still has to face Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev in round-robin play, and probably has to beat both in order to reach the last four of the season-ending event which he has never won.
Zverev has now beaten Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in his past three matches at the season-ending tournament.
“It’s definitely a place and a court that I love, and that brings maybe the best out of me,” the world No.7 German said.
Earlier on Monday, Tsitsipas earned his first career win over Medvedev – and it clearly meant a lot to the 21-year-old.
Not only because the Greek was 0-5 against the Russian before winning 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
But mainly because two of the biggest rising stars in tennis simply don’t like each other that much.
“It’s a victory that I craved for a long time now, and it’s great that it came at this moment,” Tsitsipas said.
“Our chemistry definitely isn’t the best that you can find on the tour. It’s not that I hate him (but) we will not go to dinner together.”
The grudge dates to their first meeting, in Miami last year, when Medvedev berated Tsitsipas for not apologising after hitting a net cord during a point, a spat that continued as both players traded insults on court and after the match.