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| Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal (right) participates in a training session as his coach and uncle Toni Nadal watches him, at the Barcelona Open yesterday |
Less than 24 hours after crushing Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-1 for his eighth straight trophy on the clay of the principality, Nadal was outlining his chances of claiming a seventh in Barcelona, the hotbed of Spanish tennis.
“Beating the number one is special, but Novak (mourning the loss of his grandfather last week) made more errors than usual and I took advantage of that. I did have a few mistakes with my backhand though,” said Nadal, seeded ahead of Andy Murray in the field.
The winner of six of the past seven editions at the Real Club de Tenis will open on Wednesday after a first-round bye, facing the winner from compatriot Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Belgium’s Olivier Rochus.
Nadal said that despite trailing Djokovic in the rankings as the Serb put together a record-setting 2011 season of ten titles including three of the four grand slams, “I had a great season last year.
“But there was a player who did better, and usually sport is fair. And at the (January) Australian Open final, I came close to winning. But it’s really only about the titles, not whom you defeat in the final.”
Nadal will aim to keep his focus this week.
“I’m only concentrating on playing well here, this is one of the nicest tournaments of the year for me. I’m home and this is very special to me. I’m so comfortable here.”
Amid the usual tight security which follows Nadal in Spain, the top seed managed to make his way to the court for a hit-out on the clay to adjust to conditions after coming from his Monte Carlo success.
The Spaniard also repeated his goal of a medal at the summer London Olympics.
“You have to get there well-prepared.
“It’s a difficult tournament,because it’s only held every four years. And this one is on grass at the All England Club and it’s the best three sets.
“There will be no margin for error. Any mistakes will be lethal.”
On court, first-round play got underway, with two Frenchmen advancing to the second round.
Benoit Paire beat Czech Lukas Rosol 6-3, 7-5 while Edouard Roger-Vasselin defeated countryman Stephane Robert 6-2, 6-3.0
Sharapova out to toughen up on clay
Tennis diva Maria Sharapova says she is relishing making her Stuttgart debut here as the clay-court season gets under way with the statuesque Russian up against all four grand slam winners.
The 25-year-old has added Stuttgart to her usual WTA clay-court events in Rome and Madrid as she looks to prepare for the French Open at the end of May, which is the only grand slam event she has yet to win.
Having reached the Australian Open final in January, Sharapova says her aim is to work on her strength as her persistent shoulder problems finally seem to be over following her last surgery in 2009.
“My goal for this years clay court season is to improve even more physically,” said the Russian, who is seeded second here behind world number one Victoria Azarenka.
“I can withstand longer matches and I recover better, I’m still learning about the clay court game which is a little bit like a ‘cat and mouse’ game’, as the ball comes back more often and differently.”
All current grand slam champions will be appearing in Stuttgart.
Top seed and world number one Azarenka of Belarus is joined by US Open winner Samantha Stosur of Australia and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic.
Stuttgart heralds the start of the women’s clay-court season ahead of Roland Garros at the end of May where China’s Na Li will be looking to defend her title and Sharapova is relishing the challenge in Germany.