2009 champion Rafael Nadal has claimed he’s extremely motivated to do particularly well at the Australian Open, which gets underway in Melbourne on Monday.
Nadal, who was battling a knee injury when he arrived in Australia, is confident about his own chances after recovering from the problem. The Spaniard has got a far more comfortable draw in comparison to the defending champion Roger Federer as he will not be facing any dangerous opponent until the round of 16 of the tournament.
The 31-year-old lost to the Swiss great in an epic five-set final last year before finding his form during the European clay-court swing to win an unprecedented 10th French Open title and a 3rd US Open crown to take his Grand Slam tally to 16. Nadal eventually ended the year as the new World No. 1 replacing Andy Murray of Britain from that position.
However, he suffered a late setback when he had to pull out of the ATP’s year-end championships in London with a knee issue. And with the ‘Happy Slam’ starting from tomorrow, some questions still remain unanswered about his fitness. But the southpaw insisted that he wanted to perform at a high level at Melbourne Park.
“It’s impossible to be more motivated than last year or any year,” said Nadal.
“For me, the Australian Open … if you are not enough motivated, 100 percent motivated to play this tournament, probably you don’t love this sport.”
The Majorcan also spoke about his uncle Toni’s present role in his career after former World No. 1 Carlos Moya took over as his full time coach.
“He participates as much as he wants to participate. He’s my uncle,” Nadal told reporters at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
“He’s more than anything else. That’s it. Everything that he wants to do with me, I am happy with, no? It’s not about my decision. He has enough confidence with me, or I have enough confidence with him, to talk about anything I have to talk.
“It’s difficult to explain. But it’s part of my family … He loves me. I love him. It’s not about, you know, a professional relationship. It’s a familial relationship.
“In terms of professional things, I spoke to him few days ago, speaking about how the life is going, how the tennis is going.
“If I have something to ask, I ask him. If he has something to tell me, he calls me and tells me. No, it’s not a difficult situation. It’s a very easy situation.”
