Rafael Nadal elevated the art of the slide to a creative weapon on his favored red clay. The nine-time Roland Garros champion is seeking stability in his Rogers Cup return today.
In an effort to find his footing on North American hard courts, Nadal is partnering sometime Davis Cup teammate Fernando Verdasco against Tomas Berdych and Jack Sock in a Montreal today.
Video: Djokovic Doubles Up
The doubles opener gives Nadal, fresh off his third title of the season in Hamburg, a chance to acclimate to the faster hard courts. It offers fans a chance for a close encounter with the King of Clay. The match is scheduled third on Court 9.
The ninth-ranked Spaniard said he feels positive about his game after winning Hamburg. Pointing to fluctuations in his concentration earlier this season, Nadal said competing with calm and maintaining mental stability is key for his success.
"One of the weeks I'm more happy with the whole season. Playing worse or playing better, I have to remain very stable. I was not able to do it very often this season," Nadal told the media in Montreal. "That should be the way that I have to play, because one of the stronger points over my career obviously the shots, but the mental part. This year, I've felt the mental part was more up and down than usual. I'm working well and I'm hoping that week (in Hamburg) will help me here."
The 29-year-old Nadal has lost 12 matches as well as his Top 3 spot in the rankings this year, but said there's one thing he will not lose.
"Normally I don't lose the smile. I do not have one reason to lose the smile, even if I lose 100 tennis matches in the future," Nadal said. "In general, I feel very lucky about my life, how it goes. I have the people that I love around me. I have the general health of myself. I enjoy playing golf. My life is very close to the sea. I enjoy being in the sea. I enjoy scuba diving, swimming, fishing. When I'm at home, I do the normal life of a 29 years old guy. I go out with friends, I visit family, cinema, golf ... normal things. I enjoy the life outside of tennis. Tennis has been a very important part of my life, for sure, but I always say the same: Tennis is not everything for me."
Nadal has won two of his three Rogers Cup championships in Montreal—the tournament alternates between Montreal and Toronto—including a three-set win over then world No. 7 Andre Agassi in the 2005 final to capture his first hard-court title. In his last Montreal appearance, Nadal knocked off No. 1 Novak Djokovic and Canadian No. 1 Milos Raonic in succession to take the 2013 Rogers Cup title.
The seventh-seeded Nadal has a first-round bye and will play either Sergiy Stakhovsky or Canadian wild card Filip Peliwo in his singles opener. With no ranking points to defend throughout the North American hard-court season, Nadal may well be able to play stress-free tennis this week.
Regardless of the results, he says retirement is not on his mind.
"I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to be playing tennis until I'm 39, but that's part of the career and life of everyone. But I have to keep going and for the moment, it's difficult to think of," Nadal said. "A lot of people ask, when are you going to stop playing tennis? When that moment arrives, I will know. When I wake up in the morning and I don't have motivation to go and practice, to improve something, that will be the end. Until that day arrives, I'm here, I'm enjoying it."
Photo credit: Arturo Velasquez/Tennis Canada