Rafael Nadal is not one to hide behind ready-made phrases after a defeat.

“It's difficult to draw a lot of positive things from this meeting.

It's the truth", thus dropped the world number 3 on Wednesday after his defeat against Borna Coric, in three sets and almost 3 hours of play (7-6 [11/9], 4-6, 6-3) .

"I have to improve, I have to train, I need days," admitted the 36-year-old Spaniard, eliminated as soon as he entered the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati, by the 25-year-old Croatian, 152nd world, for his missed return after six weeks of absence.

The record holder for the number of Grand Slams won (22) since his coronations at the Australian Open and Roland-Garros this year, had not played since July 6 due to an abdominal tear, which had then forced to forfeit before his semi-final at Wimbledon.

As for Coric, he had spent a year away from the circuit due to right shoulder surgery in May 2021.

“Coming back like that, after a difficult period, is something that is easy to accept.

And if we can win the first game, things get better.

But that was not the case today.

Obviously I wasn't ready enough,” Nadal said.

“A difficult injury to manage”

“The main thing for me is to stay healthy.

It's a tough injury to deal with, to be honest.

A tear in the abdomen, you don't know when it's completely over,” he explained.

“When you have a scar, it doesn't have enough flexibility, so you can feel it.

But we don't know if we feel it because of that or if it's because something is not right.

I will probably do some tests, to make sure everything is going the way I want it to be,” he said.

Nadal, who has 12 days left to prepare for the US Open (August 29-September 11), however, wants to be "positive".

“I was able to have a week of training here, doing better and better every day, much better than the way I played today, to be honest.

I have to move forward mentally, I know the way.

I have to start getting into Grand Slam mode,” he concluded.

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