TORONTO — Never did so many people gather in a tennis media room to hear a player say so little, but emote so much.
The world's No. 2 player, Rafael Nadal, arrived late to his press conference yesterday at the Rogers Cup. He slipped into a room with wall-to-wall reporters, his chocolate locks hanging over his intense brown eyes, and plunged into a chair.
He looked around the room and said with a small voice, "Hello," as if it were directed to one person, not 50.
Media had been waiting since Sunday to hear the 22-year-old Spaniard talk about the two weeks since he won his first Wimbledon crown by defeating the world's top player, Roger Federer.
Has his life changed since winning that epic match in England?
Nadal: "I don't think so, no."
How long has he been practising?
"Four, five days, six," he said.
How long does it take to adjust to a hard court?
"You never know," the likeable Spaniard said, always leaving the impression he's ready to spring from his chair and run down a ball. Moving, not speaking, is evidently his forte.
Now that he's won both the French Open and Wimbledon, does he consider himself the man to beat in tennis?
"I don't think so, no?" he said. "First of all, I'm never going to say something like [that]. Second, I don't think so, no?"
He added quickly that if he had lost Wimbledon, it wouldn't have affected his season at all.
"So I'm happy how I'm playing," he said. "But still No. 2 and still with the same motivation for continuing to improve my tennis."
He's been the world's No. 2 player for three years now, so surely he'd want to be No. 1 some time soon?
"I want to be No. 1 for sure," Nadal said, "but right now I don't want to be No. 1. Right now I only want to play a very good tournament here in Toronto."
Obviously, he's focused on the task at hand.
Besides, he said Federer is more the favourite at the Rogers Cup than he is. Others beg to differ.
Boris Becker, who played an exhibition match at centre court against Canadian star Daniel Nestor last night , had a front row seat for the Federer-Nadal match at Wimbledon two weeks ago. He was a commentator for BBC.
Although Federer is the world's top-ranked player on paper, Becker said yesterday that he thinks in reality, tennis has a new king — Nadal.
"Federer is playing as good as always," Becker said yesterday. "You know, he hasn't dropped a set at Wimbledon through the finals, so you cannot really blame him for playing badly. You can only give credit to Nadal for really raising his game to another level and winning."
He said Nadal has improved to a level that nobody expected.
"I mean, we all knew that he's great on clay, but nobody expected him to play that well on grass," Becker said.
He also sees Nadal making improvements on hard courts, like the Rogers Cup, because of his serve.
"He has a much better serve and much better positioning on the court on a hard surface," Becker said.
He said he was amazed at the quality of play from both at Wimbledon.
"I saw the best Wimbledon final I've ever seen," Becker said. "And that includes my finals, and other great finals we all remember."
The only time Nadal becomes effusive with his words is when he is asked about the men's schedule this year, with the Olympic Games in the mix.
"The calendar this year is, well, unbelievable," he said. "Very, very tough. You know, you don't have time to adapt to hard court. The body needs a little bit more [time] to adapt, but we don't have time for this adaptation this year."
He said his rest after Wimbledon was his first in six months.
Still, he's not exhausted. Not daunted. And ready to have another go at Federer. That would mean that both make the final round.
Richard Gasquet, the highest-ranked player who competed yesterday (No. 12 in the world), defeated friend and countryman Michael Llodra of France 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Gasquet said Nadal had indeed passed Federer on clay courts, but on hard courts and grass, it was still 50-50 between them.
"On this court, Federer can win," he said.
Neither Nadal nor Federer may play singles until tomorrow, depending on the chance of rain and the doubles schedule. Federer was to have played a doubles match last night on tiny court No. 1 with Swiss countryman Stanislas Wawrinka.
