Russian tennis player Demin spoke about training with Nadal

The Roland Garros junior doubles champion, Russian Yaroslav Demin, who is spending his second season at Rafael Nadal’s academy, spoke about joint training with the Spaniard.

— I changed my racket, and my playing style changed a little. Before that, I was very afraid to play on the forehand, I didn’t attack much, but now I have more confidence with the forehand than with the backhand – I always try to hit with the forehand. I’ve also improved physically: even when I’m at a tournament, I do fitness all the time. The body and arms were pumped up – it became more comfortable. So, the players from the academy noticed that my [удар] I’ve gotten much better on the right side – I’m hitting the ball hard.

Even in training with Rafa, Tony Nadal says that my forehand is stronger than his nephew. True, more balls hit the court. I still play quite consistently. With Rafa, for example, there is always a fight in tiebreaks or in some individual draws. About 30 strikes? Not yet. He constantly chases me from corner to corner. When we play together, we show very good tennis.

Now he smiles, but on the court he is always focused. He runs after balls very well, hits even harder – even I was blown away. Now he is in good shape, but Rafa has always been involved in fitness, he worked a lot on the court, so his body is pumped up and athletic,” Demin told the Championship.

Nadal is 37 years old, the Spaniard is a 22-time Grand Slam singles champion.