INTERVIEW-Tennis-Nadal ready to defend perfect Paris record

Rafael Nadal has won 21 matches out of 21 in three years at the French Open yet even that perfect record will not stop him feeling butterflies in his stomach when he starts his bid for a fourth title next week.

“Of course I’ll feel nervous,” Nadal told Reuters in an interview at the Hamburg Masters.

“I feel nerves with every game but especially in a match at Roland Garros. It’s a very special and important tournament in a spectacular city.”

To call Nadal the favourite for a fourth straight men’s title would be an understatement.

Born in Manacor, Mallorca, a nephew of former Barcelona defender Miguel Angel Nadal, he made his big breakthrough when as a freakishly powerful 16-year-old in 2003 he beat Albert Costa, then the French Open champion, in Monte Carlo.

Injuries kept him away from Roland Garros for two years but by 2005 he was already untouchable on clay and he has scarcely been troubled on his way to those three French Open titles.

Last season, his 81-match winning streak on clay finally came to an end with a defeat by Roger Federer in Hamburg but Nadal gained revenge with an epic 7-5 6-7 6-3 win over the Swiss in this year’s final.

If there is any hope for his rivals it is that this year he has faced more distractions that ever before.

The 21-year-old has led criticism of the decision to squeeze a week out of the clay-court season and he has been caught up in a row with Spain’s Tennis Federation over the Davis Cup.

Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic is challenging him ever more seriously for the number two spot but Nadal rejects any suggestion that he won’t have the same focus as usual on Paris.

SWEET TOOTH

“How am I not going to have strength and desire to play Roland Garros?” he said between mouthfuls of French bread and chocolate spread. “It’s the climax of the season on clay.

“Yes, it’s been made more difficult by those who make the calendar, but fine, even though I couldn’t be at a hundred percent in Rome I’m here and I’m playing well and I aim to get to Roland Garros in as good shape as possible.”

Nadal can look so dominant against weaker players on the red stuff that it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that his great strength — the thing that sets him apart from the other top players — is his ability to chase down the most hopeless of lost causes and turn desperate saves into winners.

“He’s the best defence player in the history of this sport,” Djokovic said after losing to Nadal in the Hamburg semis. “He knows how to use his opportunities very wisely. He’s waiting.”

Federer was equally complimentary, saying: “He has all the respect of all the players. What he’s achieved is maybe unique.”

Federer recently started work with Jose Higueras, the Spanish clay-court guru, while Britain’s Andy Murray has taken on Alex Corretja in a bid to improve his game on the surface.

For the moment, Nadal is unconcerned.

“I’m sure it’ll help them but three weeks or a month of work, in my case at least, wouldn’t be enough to produce any benefit,” he said

“It’s more about the long-term but I suppose it will give them a different way of looking a things and it will help them.”

Nadal has twice reached the final of Wimbledon and is eager to prove calling him the world’s best on clay does not tell the whole story.

“Of course I’d swap a Roland Garros for a Wimbledon,” he says after barely any hesitation. “If you win in more tournaments you’re regarded as a more complete player but I’ve been close to winning Wimbledon before…

“For now I’m going to go home two days before heading to Paris. I’ll have time to be with my friends and family and that’s important because I don’t have much time usually.”