Johannesburg : Spanish tennis maestro Rafael Nadal, who recently clinched his ninth Monte Carlo Masters, will aim to equal Guillermo Vilas’s record of 49 clay-court titles in this week’s Barcelona Open.
The 29-year-old, who has won the title at Barcelona for eight times, slumped to shock defeats at the hands of Nicolas Almagro and Fabio Fognini in past two years.
Reflecting on the same, Nadal admitted he had a tough time in last few years, but added he is better prepared at the moment despite having poor start of the season, Sport24 reported.
Nadal kicked off his season with a first-round defeat against countrymen Fernando Verdasco at Australian Open, but improved tremendously and claimed a morale-boosting victory at Monte Carlo.
Insisting that he had been performing well in the recent times, the Spaniard hopes that his recent win would help in boosting his confidence for the upcoming tournaments.
By ending his two-year title drought, Nadal has also equalized the record of 28th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown and brought himself back alongside top-ranked Novak Djokovic. (ANI)