Nadal ready for Wimbledon
Rafael Nadal insists fatigue will not ruin his bid for Wimbledon glory.
His message comes after he completed a remarkable six weeks with his first tournament victory on grass at the Artois Championships.
Just seven days after confirming his utter dominance on clay with a fourth straight French Open title, Nadal beat world number three Novak Djokovic in straight sets at Queen's Club.
The 22-year-old became the first Spanish male to win a grass court title since 1972 by beating Djokovic 7-6 (8/6) 7-5 in two hours and 15 minutes.
Since April 27, Nadal has won tournaments in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Hamburg, Paris and now London, and admits he is in desperate need of a rest.
But as he headed for the golf course this morning, the world number two warned his rivals that he will be ready to challenge for the title at the All England Club next week.
He said: "I'm a little bit tired but I think with a few days' rest I'm going to be ready for Wimbledon. And if not, it does not matter, because Wimbledon is very important and the motivation is 100 per cent.
"I've made it to two Wimbledon finals so sure, I can win, but it's a lot of work. It's easy right now to say you are one of the favourites but we will know on the second Sunday who is the favourite."
Five-time champion Roger Federer remains the favourite for Wimbledon, of course, especially after putting his French Open final thrashing at the hands of Nadal behind him with victory in Halle yesterday.
But Nadal has pushed the Swiss star increasingly hard in the last two finals in SW19 and has been tipped by Bjorn Borg to take Federer's crown this year.
© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.
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