Rafael Nadal insisted that he is focusing solely on his second-round clash with Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Rome Masters, and not looking forward to a possible quarterfinal against Novak Djokovic.
“I’m not playing Novak tomorrow. I’m going to play against (Philipp) Kohlschreiber. He’s playing great. He won in Munich couple of weeks okay and played semifinals in Barcelona too,” fifth seed Nadal said.
“He’s playing well and he’s a very good player on clay. I am worried about that now.”
Nadal won titles last month in Monte Carlo and Barcelona to start his pre-French Open clay campaign in the best possible way.
“My game is good, three tournaments, two victories (Monte Carlo, Barcelona), one semi-final. Tough tournaments, good victories, good matches. If I’m not happy now, I don’t know when I gonna be happy,” he said.
Kohlschreiber has just a single win over Nadal – on the grass in Halle – against 13 losses to the Spaniard, with six of them coming on clay. The 26th-ranked German beat Spain’s Inigo Cervantes in the Rome first round 6-4, 6-2.
Madrid winner Djokovic hopes he can maintain his excellent form this week as the French Open, the only major that has eluded him so far in his career, draws closer.
“I’m just hoping I can carry on the high quality of performances I have had throughout the week in Madrid and also this week in Rome, find that freshness and get as far as I can,” the world No1 said.
“Once I step on the court, I don’t know how to pace myself. I’m on the court to get the job done, to try to win.
“It would be disrespectful to the tournament and to all the people that come to watch you that, if you are thinking of some other tournament that’s ahead of you. So that’s not in my mind.”
