Rafael Nadal is convinced? his decision not to take a break
after winning the French Open will pay off as he tries to extend
his dominance over Roger Federer to Wimbledon.
Nadal is showing no signs of feeling the strain of a grulling
schedule that saw him begin his challenge at Queen's just three
days after winning in Paris.
The world No 2 triumphed on the clay of Roland Garros for the
third consecutive year, so he could have been forgiven for taking a
well-earned rest this week.
Instead he came straight to London and didn't take long to adapt
to the grass courts as he brushed aside Argentine teenager Juan
Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-4 to set up a third round match with Max
Mirnyi.
Nadal's decision to play on contrasted with Federer's withdrawal
from this week's tournament in Halle. The Swiss insists he has a
groin injury, but it is likely the psychological blow of losing to
Nadal again was also a factor.
The Spaniard didn't disagree with that assessment of Federer's
state of mind and said: "I am playing here and I know if I lose it
is not the same as if Roger loses in Halle.
"If I lose in the second round in Barcelona the loss affects me
more than if I lose here because I am expected to do well there.
There is not much pressure for me (here).
"At Halle there is a lot of pressure on him to win the title and
it is very difficult to play a week after a Grand Slam. It is two
weeks with a lot of pressure and concentration every day. It is
tough, especially when you lose.
"Roger knows how he feels. If he is not playing Halle it is
because he thinks his best preparation is not to play for one week.
He wants to go to Wimbledon with his best mentality."?
Nadal's determination to keep playing is fuelled by the
knowledge that he needs more experience on grass if he is to
improve on last year's final defeat to Federer at the All-England
club.
He acknowledged tiredness had been a factor during his doubles
defeat on Tuesday but is adamant he is now back to his peak
condition.
"I have played one final at Wimbledon, but Roger has two finals
of Roland Garros, one semifinal there, four titles in Hamburg and
has won in Monte Carlo and been to the final in Rome," Nadal
said.
"He is an unbelievable player on clay as well but I don't know
if I am a very good player on grass yet. I just want to play well
and try to adapt as fast as possible to the grass.
"If I am playing many matches that is good because I will have
more hours on court before Wimbledon.
"It is always tough to play your first match on grass. After a
few games I started returning so much better. There were a few
mistakes but that is normal on grass.
"I feel so much better today than in the last two days.
Yesterday I was terrible in the doubles. I was very tired. I wanted
to move but I couldn't do anything.
"Today I woke up in the morning feeling better. I even went to
breakfast before the coach got there for the first time in my
life."
(China Daily via Agencies June 15, 2007)