Nadal Plays to Win, Not to Rank!

Here’s a quick sound bite for you from our favourite Spanish tennis ace Rafa Nadal. After slipping one place down the top four rankings to number 3, Nadal has confessed that he doesn’t particularly care about the professional rankings and it’s the wins on court that matter to him.

Shocking the tennis world by losing in the third round at the recent Madrid Masters to Fernando Verdasco, a defeat even more surprising given his prowess on clay courts, Nadal stated that “Coming to Roland Garros with the No 2 or No 3 is not going to change my goal which is winning”. His loss meant that Madrid title winner Roger Federer reclaimed the number 2 spot, and despite their long-time rivalry on court Nadal was able to praise the Swiss tennis pro as “probably the best player ever.”

It’s not surprising that Nadal has this opinion, after all he’s a professional tennis player and it’s the matches, tournaments and titles that he wins which enable him to keep playing year after year. The strong-willed Spaniard does indeed play to win, something that is evident in any match he plays when he is on form, and whether he is at number 2 or number 3 he’s still highly tipped to walk away with the French title later this month.

Tags Federer madrid masters 2012 Nadal rafa nadal Rafael Nadal Roger Federer roland garros 2012