Angry Nadal slams Roland Garros organisers

Defending champion Rafael Nadal last night hit out at tournament organisers over the scheduling of his second round match against the unseeded Slovakian Martin Klizan.

Reuters/Vincent Kessler

The 26-year-old third seed claimed he and Klizan had been put at a disadvantage as their match was placed third on Court Suzanne Lenglen while the match between Fabio Fognini and Lukas Rosol was second on court two.

“I think everyone in this room knows the scheduling of Thursday was wrong. That’s the real thing," The seven-times winner of the Roland Garros crown told a press conference..

“I don’t know if the director, supervisors or guys who take the decisions took a bad decision two days ago [Wednesday night] because when you make the schedule at 7pm in the evening not at 11 in the morning, you know which weather predictions you have for the next day.

“I cannot play third on court after a men’s and women’s singles when our possible opponents play second after a women’s match. That is not fair.

“Today I was playing almost three hours on court and my opponent [Fognini] was watching the TV in the locker room. So if you tell me that’s fair, I’d say to you that’s not fair.”

But Nadal concluded, “The only thing I can do is be positive, smile and try to win my match against Fognini.“

The Spaniard is renowned for his courtesy on the circuit. But his anger was evident as he revealed his discussions with the organisers.

“The excuse they [the schedulers] told me was because Rosol had to play doubles," he complained.

“I’m sorry, that’s a joke. What you are protecting the player playing doubles? So I should put myself into the doubles and I’ll get priority to play? That’s not the right excuse to make a schedule like this.”

Nadal struggled in Friday’s damp heavy conditions against a player ranked 35 in the world. The 23-year-old took the first set off the champion before succumbing in four sets.

“I started the match probably not with the right intensity,” Nadal admitted. ‘There were more doubts than usual but the positive thing is that I had a good reaction at the start of the second set.

“I played with intensity and passion and played inside the court – that’s the way. I’m happy to be through that’s the real thing on these kind of days. Hopefully the conditions will improve because with these conditions it’s not easy for me to play well.”

Three days of the tournament have been affected by rain. But better weather is expected over the weekend as the second grand slam of the season moves into its final week.

Nadal, who apologised for being so reflective before reporters, gave an insight into his preparation for the match.

“It’s not easy to play the first round and then have three days off, especially when you have weather conditions like this. On Tuesday I had the chance to practice indoors for half an hour, may be less.

“On Wednesday I practised 90 minutes in the annex but on Thursday [in preparation for the second round match] I just warmed up ... so I haven’t played much tennis during three days and that doesn’t make things easy.

“It’s no secret that I prefer different conditions … but I have to play with these conditions I have to play as well as I can.”

Despite dropping a set in both his first two matches, Nadal is expected to progress to the semi-final where the top seed Novak Djokovic should – if the seedings are respected – lie in wait.

They met in the final at Monte Carlo last month and the Serb ended Nadal’s hegemony of eight consecutive titles in the principality.

But that victory was the best of three sets. The Serb, who lost to Nadal in last year’s final, has yet to beat him over five at Roland Garros.