It is quite surprising that an 11-time Grand Slam titlist would think that it would be “arrogant and crazy” to win another title in an event that he’s won twice.
World number two Rafael Nadal certainly shared these thoughts during a press conference prepared prior to the 2012 Wimbledon Championships. Nadal has won the Wimbledon title in 2008 and 2010 and has been a runner up in 2006, 2007 and 2011. He missed the tournament in 2009 due to knee injury.
“That’s something I cannot think about, no? I can just think about the practice of tomorrow, to keep preparing my game, to arrive to Tuesday with the right conditions, being competitive to try to win the first match, no?”
Nadal will face Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci in the first round. Though the Spaniard has beaten Bellucci twice in the past, both of those matches were at Roland Garros – the event he has won seven times.
It is understandable that Nadal is wary about his draw, up ahead in the third round, he could potentially meet Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany. It was the latter who beat Nadal at the warm-up grasscourt event in Halle last week or he could meet Tommy Haas, the winner of the Halle event. Other players that he could potentially meet in his side of the draw before the semifinals are Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Feliciano Lopez.
“The real thing of this surface, you see the draw, and you never see an easy opponent,” he said.
