Nadal focuses on quality, not quantity, for 2019
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA Rafael Nadal wants to make a little go a long way.
The No. 2-ranked Nadal, in Brisbane preparing to play his first competitive match since retiring from the U.S. Open semifinals last September, found some positives out of an injury-interrupted season that he wants to apply this year.
“I want to feel myself competitive every week that Ia mon court and I want to keep fighting for the things that really make me feel alive, you know, for the things that motivate me,” Nadal told a news conference Tuesday at the Brisbane International. “Be competitive all the weeks that I am playing.”
That doesn’t mean he wants to play every week. It just means he’s going to be a lot more selective. Based on results in 2018 — he entered nine tournaments, retired from two but still won five titles and had a 45-4 win-loss record — the 32-year-old Spaniard has an outstanding success rate when he’s fit.
So regaining the No. 1 ranking is far less of a priority than adding to his 17 major titles.
“I prefer to be No. 1 than be No. 2, and I prefer to be No. 2 than No. 5. That’s obvious,” he said. “But my main goal is to stay healthy, stay happy and try to play as long as possible.”
Nadal is scheduled to play JoWilfried Tsonga in the second round in Brisbane on Thursday. He said he plans to be “on court with a positive feeling,” but only if he’s feeling fit. The Australian Open starts Jan. 14.
A right knee injury forced Nadal to retire from his U.S. Open semifinal and he had ankle surgery at the start of November. He doesn’t think his body is letting him down.
“I really believe that I keep having tennis to play in my career and I really feel that my body is not going worse every year,” he said.