Rafael Nadal (Photo : REUTERS)
After bagging only his third hardware of the year following his 7-5, 7-5 win over Italy's Fabio Fognini in the final of the German Open, Spanish tennis ace Rafael Nadal is bracing for a brutal competition in next week's Rogers Cup.
Nadal, whose victory in Hamburg pushed him up to no.9 from no.10 in the ATP world rankings, is expecting a more competitive tourney with men's tennis big wigs (Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka) all competing in Montreal roughly a week from now.
The Spaniard last saw action at the Rogers Cup two years ago, where he began an epic US Harcourt season campaign by sweeping the Montreal Masters, Cincinnati Masters and the US Open championships. Unfortunately, Nadal had to skip all these tournaments last year due to a wrist injury in his right hand.
Fast-forward to the present, Nadal admits that he'll be facing a far different situation than the last time when he was at the top of his game. He thinks that his victory in Hamburg puts him on a right track ahead of the hard-court season, where he's viewed as a heavy underdog following a rough season.
Despite crashing all the way to no.10 in the world rankings, Nadal hasn't abandoned yet his bid to earn enough points throughout the remainder of the season and qualify into the World Tour Finals in London.
"Now the hard court season begins, It will be a totally different thing. On the other hand it will be the same on a mental point of view and this victory in Hamburg will still count. This title will help me to stay calm and try to collect as many points as possible to make sure to close the year in the top 8 of the rankings and play in London. What do I expect from the upcoming weeks? To improve my level of tennis. Montreal is a tournament I like a lot, but as today these are my expectations.
It has been a rough 2015 campaign for Nadal after losing his French Open title and bombing out early at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. Still, the Mallorcan Bull insisted that his motivation is "as high as it has always been," promising to give it a good fight until the end.
