Nadal looks forward to playing in Rio after Spanish world No. 1 Rafael Nadal said pulling out of the tennis tournament in Buenos Aires due to an injury has not been pleasant, but the focus was now on playing at the Rio de Janeiro event, an ATP 500 tournament taking place Feb. 17-23. Today, I started training a bit to see if the thing is going well and I can play in Rio. I bought tickets, Nadal told Onda Cero. The Spanish star had not been able to practice since injuring his back in the Australian Open final last month. Whatever it takes, Nadal said, adding that its that you have a commitment to the tournament for a while. The idea is to fulfill your commitments. Pulling out of Buenos Aires has not been pleasant. The Spanish tennis great lost in the quarterfinals in his lone appearance at the ATP Tour event in Buenos Aires in 2005, shortly before he won the first of his record eight French Open titles. The Copa Claro tournament started on Monday in Argentinas capital. Nadal, who won an Australian Open tune-up event in Qatar before losing in the final of this years first Grand Slam tournament to Switzerlands Stanislas Wawrinka in four sets, has been undergoing treatment for his back injury. The physical demands come from the matches I win, the more you win, the more demands you have. I prefer to have more demands and win more than to have a really bad year. When Im done with all of this, there will be time for the body to recover. An athletes life, I think, is about playing with pain, the 27-year-old Nadal, a 13-time Grand Slam champion, told Onda Cero. EFE
Posted on: Wed, 12 Feb 2014 18:01:25 +0000