Rafael Nadal aims for eighth Roland Garros title

World number four Rafael Nadal is back in Paris in a bid to clinch his eighth French Open title. However, despite his objective, the Spaniard insists that he appreciates every tournament that he participates in and treats them with the same interest as he does to Major events.

“The Grand Slams are not the only tournaments on the Tour,” he said. “I really appreciate every tournament. It doesn’t matter if it is a Grand Slam or a Masters 1000 or 500 or 250, my feeling is to try my best in every moment and try to play with the same passion in every tournament. I don’t treat them as preparation for Roland Garros.”

It can’t be denied that Nadal is the heavy favorite to lift the famous Coupe des Mousquetaires two weeks from now. His impressive six title wins out of eight tournaments participated in 2013 is already an indication that he’s headed for the year-end number one ranking. He has no points to defend after that shock second round loss to Lukas Rosol at the Wimbledon Championships second round.

The road to title eight at the French Open is going to be very rough for Nadal, who’s projected to meet top-ranked and last year’s runner-up Novak Djokovic in the semifinals and he could meet 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer in the final.

“What makes me really happy is to be healthy and competitive every week, having the chance to win tournaments. If you ask whether I would rather win one Grand Slam or six tournaments, I’ll choose to win six tournaments.”