Rafael Nadal says he and his family are ‘very well’ after birth of first child and first child of father-to-be Djokovic
Top seed Nadal, who has lost just five times in 14 matches since his last victory in Madrid in April will play Roger Federer in Friday’s semi-finals
Nadal has won three Masters 1000 titles since losing to Federer in the final at Wimbledon
Nadal says he has spoken to Djokovic and their relationship is’more than normal’ but admits it can sometimes be difficult to be the ‘other half’ of a marriage
Rafael Nadal is the world’s No 1 tennis star, but he insists he and his wife are’still very well’ despite the birth of their first child.
The world No 1 was named as the father of the baby girl, who was born on 28 September and weighed just 2lb 3oz.
‘Very well, yes, very well… yes I would say, I really was happy but I was slightly sad, I was sad to have to go through the procedure, because I didn’t think it was my time to be a father,’ said the former world No 1, who has won the last seven Grand Slams including the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
‘Of course I have spoken to him, he is still very much part of our lives, but there have been moments where we needed to have a moment to ourselves, to talk or watch a video.
‘It’s very normal to have those moments, so I think we are ok. It was normal that things would take a little longer than we wanted and that’s normal, life just happens.’
Nadal has lost just five times in 14 matches since his last victory in Madrid in April and faces Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
The 29-year-old Spaniard is still without a major title after last week’s defeat in New York, where he lost to Djokovic in three sets.
He has not lost an opening round of a Grand Slam since beating Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in 2013 and has never been two sets down against a No 1 in his career.
He has, however, lost to Juan Martin Del Potro and Andy Murray in 2014 and 2015 and will face a stern test against Federer.