Rafael Nadal focusing on his own game, not the fight for world No 1 ranking

ATP Tour

Rafael Nadal has declared he is fit and ready to make his comeback, but insists the world No 1 ranking is not his priority.

The Spaniard hasn’t played competitive tennis since he retired injured during the Australian Open quarter-final, but he will return to action at the Mexican Open this week.

While he was recovering, his long-time rival Roger Federer replaced him at the top of the rankings as he became the oldest No 1 at the age of 36 on the back of his Rotterdam Open success.

Nadal, though, is not wasting energy on the No 1 ranking as he is just focusing on his own game.

“I don’t want to fight for that [world number one ranking], I want to do my calendar and then we’ll see what’s going on,” he told ATPWorldTour.com.

“It’s great and incredible to see [Federer] him back to the world number one. Congratulations to him, he did so well for the last year, so he deserves it.”

It’s been more than a month since he last took to the court, but the 16-time Grand Slam winner says he is ready to compete in Acapulco, a tournament he won in 2005 and 2013.

“I am happy to be here. I feel recovered from what happened in Melbourne,” he said “I took a couple of weeks off [to] rest and working hard on the rehabilitation. Last week I started practicing hard again and I feel ready.”

As for his injury woes in Australia, he added: “It’s part of my career [injury problems]. So it’s not the first time. Of course, it’s tough and especially at this point when you feel ready to compete well.

“For me, it was a good chance to be fighting for an important title in Australia, but it happened and I can’t complain, I have to keep going, keep working and that’s what I did. Just try to be positive and I’m here to try to be ready to compete at my highest level.”

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