Rafael Nadal has revealed his blue-print for rebuilding success on court.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion says striking his forehand with more conviction to command rallies and competing with greater calm on court will be key components to his success moving forward.
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"I need to recover little bit more the forehand," Nadal told the media in Beijing. "In the US Open I did something important, that I played with not many mistakes. That is something that is important for me. At the same time (I) need to recover a little bit more the intensity on my forehand, hit more winners than what I did this year."
The nine-time Roland Garros champion has admitted battling nerves this season. Nadal says regaining his sense of calm is crucial, but concedes that confidence can only come through match victories.
"If I am able to play with calm again, something that has been very difficult for me during most of the time of this season, something tough for me," Nadal said. "I was not able to control my emotions on court for a lot of months, so when that happens is almost impossible play well."
Since losing to Novak Djokovic in the Roland Garros quarterfinals, Nadal has posted a 16-5 record winning titles on red clay at Hamburg and Stuttgart. He is 5-3 on hard courts in that span, including a US Open third-round loss to Fabio Fognini, which was his earliest exit in New York since 2005.
The third-seeded Spaniard faces Chinese wild card Di Wu in his China Open opener on Tuesday. Nadal won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, a moment he calls "one of the best memories of my career."
"I take this tournament like another opportunity to play close to the way that I want to play," Nadal said. "I have the motivation to play here as a tournament that I love.I have one of the best memories of my career in this center, Olympics 2008. So I want to play well here and I'm going to try my best to make that happen."
Photo credit: China Open