No. 1 Nadal gearing up for clay-court season

Rafael Nadal’s build-up to what he hopes will be another French Open triumph begins in earnest this week when the Spaniard returns to one of his favorite old haunts, Monte Carlo.

“For me it is the same every year. I come here with the same passion, the same motivation to play the best and give myself the chances to have the best result possible,” said Nadal. “Especially this year I didn’t finish not one event yet so hopefully, this one will be the first.”

Twelve months ago in Monte Carlo, Nadal became the first player to win the same ATP tournament 10 times. He followed that with a 10th Barcelona title and then landed his 10th title at the French Open.

“In all the tournaments I’m going to play in the next month and a half, I’ve had a lot of success. Tournaments that are a part of the history of our sport. This part of the season for me is unique so, so special. The only thing that I ask is to be healthy and play in good shape,” he added.

The Mallorcan world No. 1 has been off the Tour since retiring with a hip injury in his Australian Open quarterfinal against Marin Cilic on January 23, but any doubts about Nadal’s physical condition were cast aside when he won both his matches for Spain in last weekend’s Davis Cup quarterfinal victory against Germany.

The 31-year-old will play his opening match against either Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia or Mirza Basic of Bosnia-Herzegovina, XIP QMBZFE UIFJS GJSTU SPVOE NBUDI MBUF .POEBZ