Rafael Nadal insists he is not worried about a lack of match sharpness after cruising into the US Open fourth round at the expense of Hyeon Chung.
Nadal did not play a second-round match after his opponent Thanasi Kokkinakis pulled out with a shoulder injury.
It allowed the Spaniard three days off in the middle of the week when in comparison his opponent Chung needed five sets to beat Fernando Verdasco on Thursday.
And from the outset, Chung had no answer to Nadal’s power and consistency and lost 6-3 6-4 6-2.
After the match, Nadal was asked whether he was ‘match tough’ going into next week and the 33-year-old insisted being in the tournament was the most important thing.
He said: “You never know what’s better or worse, no? From here, the main thing, I am happy to be where I am.
“I’m in the fourth round, and that’s the main thing.
“Now is the moment to push, to make a step forward if I want to give me a chance to fight for the important things. That’s what I going to try. That’s all.
“Sorry for Thanasi in the second day. Honestly tough for a player like him, that he’s very young and he already had plenty of issues, physical issues. Tough, and I hope it’s not too bad.
“But for me personally, in some way, I will prefer to play the match.
“In some way is true that you save energy. So you never know what’s the best thing.”
Nadal also opened up on how the use of the backhand slice was crucial for him to disrupt Chung’s rhythm.
“When you face players like Chung, they are very solid from the baseline and they like to hit the ball always,” he said.
“At the same point is important to change a little bit the rhythm of the point, no? And the slice backhand is a way to change the dynamic of the point and to create some difficulties to him or try to play high balls, combine it with lower balls.
“Is true I play very high balls. Is difficult against him because the ball is coming flat and is not easy to play with a lot of spin. So is important to take, to use the slice backhand. If you hit a good slice backhand, then sometimes you have the chance to go for an aggressive shot, no?
“If not, when you are in a rally and you face a player that plays flat, long, so is difficult to change the dynamic of the point.”