Titles More Important Than Rankings for Rafael Nadal

Posted on April 29, 2012 by John Ogalbe

Rafael Nadal is gunning to regain the number one ranking while winning major titles in 2012.

Former world number one, Rafael Nadal, says that he is not preoccupied with the possibility of regaining the top spot, this season, noting that he is fully concentrated on winning more tournaments.

The Spaniard’s most recent season was plagued by injuries, but he is back in form, and has laid down an early psychological marker ahead of the French Open, in May, by winning the Monte Carlo Masters, at the weekend.

The tournament in Monaco was Nadal’s first since he pulled out of the Miami Masters, in March, but he looked comfortable throughout, and ended his seven-match losing streak against world number one, Novak Djokovic, easily beating the Serb 6-3 6-1 in the final.

Djokovic has dominated the sport over the last 18 months, but the Serb has yet to beat Nadal on the Spaniard’s preferred surface, clay, in a Grand Slam, meaning that Nadal is the favorite to win the French Open in the tennis betting odds. It would be his sixth title in seven years.

His performance in Monte Carlo has promoted some pundits to suggest that Nadal could once again rise to number one by the end of the year, but the 25-year-old says he is not worried about his ranking, and is only concerned with winning.

My challenge is to play well in Barcelona, not to be number one”, said Nadal. “It was important to beat Novak but, if I am honest, it was more important to win in Monte Carlo. After my career, all that will remain are the titles, the victories, and not who I managed to win them against.

“My objective is to go day-by-day. I am starting a special tournament for me, because I am playing at home, and I hope to do well from the first day, and to continue notching up wins.”