Melbourne, Jan 16 (DPA) Defending champion Rafael Nadal said he is not bothered that he enters the Australian Open as second favourite to Roger Federer.
World No. 1 Federer is tipped as a favourite to earn his 16th career Grand Slam title here.
“For sure, I’m not the favorite,” said world number two Nadal Saturday as he neared the end of a week of private practise at Melbourne Park.
“On hard court there are a lot of very good players. Being number two, I’m not the maximum favorite, but I am one of them.
“It doesn’t matter,” added the four-time French Open winner. “The important thing is who plays better on the court. We will see what happens next two weeks.”
Nadal admits he barely had a day off from the end of Spain’s Davis Cup title last month and the start of his off-season practise.
“Last year I finished December 7 and I had only two weeks and a half to train. I practised very hard.”
Nadal remains convinced at a dozen or more players have legitimate chances at the first Grand Slam of 2010, starting Monday.
He plays first against Australian Peter Luczak.
“I’m here to play my best every day, trying my best in every match. I’m ready to practise tomorrow and to try to play a good first round. We will see what’s gonna happen,” he said.
“I started the season really well, playing really well in Abu Dhabi and Doha … I try to play like this. If I play like I played there, I’m not worried.”
rounak