World number one tennis ace Rafael Nadal yesterday downplayed his achievement in completing a career Grand Slam, describing it as merely “a step forward” in his career.
“I’m not the best sportsman, it’s quite obvious that I’m not,” the Spaniard told a news conference on his arrival at Madrid’s airport from New York.
Nadal on Monday became only the seventh man in history – and the youngest at 24 – to have won the world’s four top tennis tournaments: the US, French and Australian Opens and Wimbledon.
The left-hander achieved the feat after he overcame second-ranked Novak Djokovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 at Flushing Meadows to capture his first US Open crown.
“As a tennis player I have taken a step forward,” he said of the achievement, adding that he maintains “the hunger for victory and the hope to keep winning”.
But he described the Grand Slam as a “dream” as the US Open “has been in past the one that has been hardest for me”.
“First of all there was my knees,” he said, referring to the tendinitis he suffered the 2007 edition, when he lost in the fourth round to David Ferrer.
The following year, “I was very tired after the Olympics, and last year I pulled an abdominal muscle.”
Nadal said the 2010 season so far has been “very special, as when you don’t win for some time and then you start winning again it means that you have overcome the problems.”
He said he was now focused on the Shanghai tournament and the Masters events in Paris and London.
“The last part of the year is important to continue winning points,” he said.
Nadal’s win adds to a list of successes for Spanish sportsmen this year following the country’s first ever World Cup win in South Africa and Alberto Contador’s third victory in the Tour de France.
Federer rest
Roger Federer will not play for Switzerland in their Davis Cup play-off against Kazakhstan which starts tomorrow.
The 29-year-old has decided to miss the match in Kazakhstan, which will decide which country will stay in the World Group next year, to rest.
Federer said on his official website: “I have decided not to join the Davis Cup team to Kazakhstan. I need some extra time to relax after the intense weeks in North America so I can finish the year strong.”
He reached the semi-finals of the US Open earlier this month, and before that won the Cincinnati Masters and lost in the Toronto Masters final.