Rafael Nadal says regaining number one ranking is not his top priority – Tennis News
Rafael Nadal has said he is looking to win more tournaments and not to reclaim the number one spot in the South African Airways ATP Rankings.
The Spaniard ended his even-match losing streak against the reigning world number one, Novak Djokovic, by thrashing the Serbian in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 in the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters final. Continuing his flawless record at
the first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the season on clay courts, he won his eighth consecutive title there.
Nadal is now in Spain in order to defend his crown at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, a tournament he has won six times in the last seven years, with the only exception happening when he did not participate in 2010.
Talking to the newsmen in a press conference, Nadal said, "My challenge is to play well in Barcelona, not to be number one. 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.”
He added, "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 wins."
Nadal had reclaimed number one position in the tennis rankings by overtaking Roger Federer in 2010, after giving extraordinary performance throughout the season, winning three Grand Slams. Djokovic, who was at third spot at that
time and almost 5000 points below the leader, had an unbelievable last season and replaced the Spaniard as the best player in the world, beating the latter in six successive title matches in 2011.
The Serbian started 2012 from where he had ended last season, as he improved it to seven consecutive encounters by beating the 10-time Grand Slam champion, Nadal, in the longest Major final in the history of the sport at the Australian
Open.
The Spaniard brought that trend to an end by beating Djokovic at the Monte Carlo Country Club but said this does not mean he is about to dethrone the Serbian from top spot.
Nadal said, "Djokovic hasn't fallen in the first round, he lost in a final and he came to it after winning in Australia and Miami.”
The Spaniard will have to defend a lot points during the rest of the European clay court swing.
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