silverwhite said:
3) He said he hoped he wouldn't face Nadal, which indicates that he doesn't have the confidence and belief that he can beat him.
It's not what you think Silverwhite... Actually he came back from his first words where he said directly that he'd like to take his revenge and that he'd really like to play him...Then God knows what people around him told him, what he thought etc... But he said that of course he was wanting to play him but he was not happy to play him in the third round because it is always difficult ,no matter the surface, to play him etc... I think he thought his first words sounded a bit pretentious or something so he moderates his talk...
Here's what he said in today's L'Equipe(extract of the article...):
IL SE MÉFIE DE SON PROCHAIN adversaire (Gilles Elseneer, 192 ème à l'ATP) autant que de Nadal (au cas où ils se retrouveraient au 3ème tour). « Pour le public, ça parait facile, mais jouer un qualifié (le Belge Elseneer est un gros serveur) n'est jamais évident. Il faut être solide. Les mecs n'ont rien à perdre. En cas de victoire, et si Nadal se qualifie, on pourrait se retrouver. Non ! Je ne suis pas content! D'un côté, j'ai très envie de l'affronter, bien sûr, mais personne n'est content de retrouver Nadal en face de lui dans un tournoi du Grand Chelem, même sur herbe, car de toute façon, je suis sûr que cela sera très dur. »
Translation:
HE IS WARY OF HIS NEXT opponent (Gilles Elseneer, ranked 192nd in the ATP rankings) as much as of Nadal (they could meet in the 3rd round).
"To the audience it seems easy but playing against a qualifier (Belgian Elseneer is a great server) is never evident. You have to be solid. Those guys don't have anything to loose. If i win, and if Nadal qualifies too, we could meet. (asked if it's true that he's really wanting/ looking forward to playing him...) No! I'm not happy! (he seems to be fed up with people asking him about this...
) On the one hand , i really want to face him but on the other hand, nobody is happy to have to play Nadal in a Grand Slam tournament, even on grass, because, anyway i'm sure it will be very tough."
So it's strategic i think...Like when Nadal says he doesn't think he can go far in Wimbledon ( :bs: )...