Mannarino explains why Rafael Nadal is different than Murray, Djokovic

• Tennis News
• Rafael Nadal

Adrian Mannarino spoke about the challenges of facing an experienced and amazing player like Rafael Nadal. The Frenchman said: "His style of play is completely different. He differs from Murray or Djokovic. He has a lot of firepower.

He exercises a lot of pressure. I felt compelled to play above my usual game level, maybe not above, but in a more aggressive way. Because I knew that if I didn't put it all in, then I would be at the mercy of his forehand or his backhand, because he can outpace me with his backhand.

And I had to be more offensive from a tactical point of view because he put a lot of pressure on me. I don't know if he always serves this way, because I haven't played him enough, but he seemed to serve very well. I don't think that it's such a strong asset.

He served well and there was not much rebound. It arrived fast, under the net, and it's hard. And as I said, on a return game, we have to return well. Otherwise, we won't see the ball again. So on the first two balls, and in general, he exercised a lot of pressure on his opponent.

That's why he's so strong, because he hardly misses, and then we panic when we're in front of him. He's an outstanding player. I really enjoyed playing him today (on Wednesday)." Mannarino continued: "I did serve well. This was an important point because, on a bad day, with a bad serve, I would be helpless.

As for rallies, the fact that I'm a lefty, I managed to find angles with my backhand. So sometimes it upset him for his forehand. And when we do a forehand cross-court shot, I try to strike as strong as possible to try to outpace him.

That was the tactic when I went on court. I tried not to let him play as much as possible. That's the tactic that a lot of players have against him. Because if you let him play, we are heading nowhere. He's too strong. That's the problem. This is why we have to be so aggressive."