"Means a lot to have that opportunity" - Nadal on chance to become No. 1 again

| by Drew Tate

Rafael Nadal had an incredible year so far and thanks to that, the Spaniard will have a chance to become no. 1 once more.

It might happen this week in Cincinnati despite it being unlikely but for Nadal, the most important thing is that he's healthy and fortunate enough to be in these positions at all. He missed Montreal last week due to an injury and speaking ahead of Cincinnati he reflected on the chance to still compete at the highest of levels:

“It means a lot to me to have that opportunity [to rise to No. 1]. Something that I didn’t expect could happen again. The main thing is to stay healthy and play the events that I want to play. I will not play more than what I believe works well for my body. I am going to put all my efforts into every single event I play. It is something that doesn’t matter if I have the chance to be No. 1, but I am happy to be in this position and if it happens, I will be very happy.”

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Nadal hasn't played in a while and he fully expects to struggle with his tennis initially but he knows the process:

“You need to know that when you come back after a while that things aren’t going to be perfect. You can’t expect to play at an amazing level from the beginning. Knowing that you [need to] be humble enough to fight with the tools that you have at the beginning to win the first match. Then when you win a match or two matches things change and you start to feel competitive again."

Overall, for Nadal it's just good to be back on the Tour.

“I want to play tennis again on the Tour. I am having a good season and I am enjoying it. I want to enjoy this week in Cincinnati."

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