By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Rafael Nadal concedes his cranky left wrist is not completely healed, but injury-induced inactivity hasn't cracked his confidence.

It's been two years since Nadal's last major title at Roland Garros, but the king of clay believes he will compete for Grand Slam titles again if he stays healthy.

More: Del Potro Awarded US Open Wild Card

"I feel competitive again. I feel with the right motivation," Nadal told the media in Cincinnati today. "I don't have anymore the feelings I had last year. It's something that don't worries me much, no?

"It's obvious that nobody wins Grand Slams forever, even Federer that have won more than (anybody). It's already a few years that he's not winning. And in this moment of my career, the most important thing is enjoy and be happy doing what I am doing. I believe that I going to keep having chances to win Grand Slams in the future if I am healthy. I have the right confidence that that can happen."

Despite a 73-day sabbatical from tennis to nurse the tendon injury in his wrist, Nadal still reached the Olympic singles semifinals, falling to Juan Martin del Potro in a thriller, and partnered good friend Marc Lopez to capture the doubles gold medal.

The 2008 singles gold medal champion said the tendon issue in his wrist still bothers him when he strikes his forehand, but is encouraged that his wrist withstood the rigors of playing nearly 23 hours of tennis in a very active week of singles and doubles in Rio.

"I (have) always have been very positive about the recovery—I am a positive person," Nadal said. "Paris this year for sure was a very tough moment because I was ready I think for anything. I was playing great.

"But the things happens, and you need to accept and you need to continue. That's what I did. Without practicing for two months and a half I was able to arrive to Olympics and compete at the highest level possible. That's great news. I played with a lot of passion and I worked a lot on the gym, not in the tennis court. That helped me to be fit."

The 2013 Cincinnati champion is scheduled to open the Western & Southern Open against Pablo Cuevas, who upset Nadal, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (3), 6-4, at the ATP event in Rio earlier this year.

Nadal has not won a hard-court title since the 2014 Doha. He carries a 12-6 hard-court record on the season into Cincinnati.

Launching his quest for a 70th career championship, Nadal said his injury issues have provided a sense of perspective to the grind of the pro circuit.

"It's obvious that you have periods of your career that if you are so good then you lose less, but every week there is only one winner," Nadal said. "So you need to accept that every time that you start the tournament. The normal thing is that you going to lose later or soon. So that's it."

The fifth-ranked Spaniard said the physicality of the sport, the growing longevity of careers and the fact players absorb a pounding playing on "a crazy surface like hard court" all contribute to injuries.

"In terms of injuries, the world of tennis is a sport that brings your body a little bit to the limit," Nadal said. "It's true that we are playing longer now than before.

"The at the same time, it's true that we are playing longer too because the players are coming inside the tour later than before, too, no? So we play on aggressive surfaces. Not many sports that play in such a crazy surface like hard courts. So most of the tour today is playing on hard. That's obviously so crazy for the body.

"You need to accept that if you are not lucky you're going to have injuries, and you need to be prepared for that. "