World number five Rafael Nadal is now setting his sights into winning his eighth Barcelona Open title this week after his eight-year reign at the Monte Carlo Masters ended on Sunday at the hands of top-ranked Novak Djokovic.
Despite the end of his 46-match winning streak at Monte Carlo, Nadal has a positive outlook leading to the tournament in the Spanish city this week. Nadal admitted that there’s still a lot of improvement needed considering that he had a long injury layoff and it won’t be easy to beat the higher-ranked opponents.
“When you make it to the final in Monte Carlo you cannot think that you had a bad week,” Nadal said.
“Now I’m in Barcelona and I want to enjoy it. I love playing here,” he added.
Nadal has reached five consecutive finals since returning to the ATP World Tour in February. He went on to win three titles (including the Indian Wells title) and finished runner-up twice.
At the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, Nadal won’t be the top seed but his compatriot David Ferrer, currently ranked ahead at number four.
The Barcelona Open 2013 tournament is an ATP World Tour 500 event.
