Rafael Nadal's bid for a ninth Monte Carlo title was denied by Novak Djokovic yesterday. The seven-time French Open champion says he needs more match play and believes he has enough time to prepare for Roland Garros, which begins on May 26th.
“I needed more physical performance,” Nadal told reporters. "I needed more matches to play with this intensity all the time. I need to be completely focused in every moment. That gives you the competition, gives you this special things, extra things, when you are playing against some players maybe you don't need sometimes. But to play against Novak, to play against few players, you will need, and I need. I [am] going to work on that.”
Defending champion Nadal is playing for his eighth Barcelona championship this week. He also plans to play Madrid and Rome before the French Open.
“Roland Garros is very far,” he said. “We have Barcelona, then we have Madrid, then we have Rome. It's enough time, I think yes. It's more than enough."