Rafael Nadal has told Spanish media that he is ‘not obsessed’ about the chance of extending his record-breaking French Open title collection to ten.
The 29-year-old, who last won the title in 2014, enters next week’s tournament in Roland Garros high in confidence. The Spanish player already has two titles on clay this year after winning the Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open last month. Leading up to the French Open, Nadal has also reached the semifinals at the Madrid Masters (losing to Andy Murray) and the quarter-finals of the Rome Open (losing to Novak Djokovic).
A title at the upcoming French Open will make Nadal the first male tennis player in history to win the same grand slam event on ten different occasions in singles competition. The only other player to have achieved this record was Margaret Court, who won 11 Australian Open titles between 1960-1973. Despite the historic achievement looming, Nadal has insisted that he focusing more on his happiness than another title.
“It’s a special tournament for me and is always a highlight on the calendar, but without obsession,” Nadal told Cadena Ser radio.
“The important thing is that I enjoy the tournament. I’m happy when I play, I feel competitive against everybody and that’s what makes me happy.”
Whilst he played-down his French Open title focus, Nadal will enter the tournament high in confidence after experiencing a roller coaster 2015 on the tour. This year he currently has a win-loss of 19-4 on the clay going into next week’s grand slam tournament. The figure is almost identical to this exact time last year when Nadal’s record stood at 17-5.
“I’ve been feeling pretty good for a few weeks now. Since the beginning of this year I’ve had a good feel to my play.” The world No.5 said during an interview with Eurosport.
Nadal will not be the stand out favourite for the Roland Garros crown. That honour goes to Novak Djokovic as he bids to win his first French Open title. Nadal has played the world No.1 seven times at Roland Garros, recording his first lost to Djokovic in last year’s quarter-finals. Seeded fifth at the French Open, there is a good chance that meeting No.8 could happen next week if all goes to plan.
