World No.3 Rafael Nadal has shrugged off a jibe he received during his third round match against Cameron Norrie at the French Open on Saturday.
The incident unfolded during the early stages of the second set when Norrie approached the umpire making his complaint. The Brit voiced frustration over Nadal’s speed of play and implied that he was being made to wait between points. Although his argument failed to work with the umpire siding with the Spaniard. Players are allowed a maximum of 30 seconds between points played.
“It is a reasonable time,” Norrie was told by the umpire.
“Yeah but I’m still going to attack,” he replied.
Nadal has been renowned for the amount of time he takes between rallies on court and has previously been a vocal critic of the use of a 25-second shot clock which monitors time. Once saying ‘I believe it is not something that is good for the future of the Tour.’
Responding to the situation which occurred in Paris, Nadal has suggested the complaint by Norrie might have been a tactic he tried to use in order to speed up the match and place more pressure on him.
“I think he was trying to speed up the situations, to put some pressure on me,” the world No.3 said during his press conference. “He’s free to do it. I don’t think I did anything bad.’
“I didn’t complain at all when he was throwing his ball bad for 20 times. I didn’t know when he was going to serve. I didn’t complain at all during the whole match, so I don’t think he has to complain about the other stuff.”
Although at one stage of the match Nadal admitted that he was told by the official to be quicker. Something he said he had no problem with.
“If he wants to put that pressure, I just accept it. I tried to be a little bit quicker. I try to always be respectful and nice to the umpire,” he said.
Weighing in on the debate, Norrie insisted that Nadal’s on court antics were not malicious in any way. The two played have faced each other on the Tour three times this season. Prior to Paris, they also clash at the Australian Open and in Barcelona with Nadal winning both of them.
“I don’t think he was doing anything on purpose. There was none of that. I just think that’s the way he is with the routines, and he has to get ready like that,” Norrie commented.
Nadal won the match 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. He will play Jannik Sinner in the fourth round on Monday.
