Nadal coach unhappy despite win
Nadal coach unhappy despite win
Published: 10:18 pm Apr 20, 2009
MONTE CARLO: Rafael Nadal wrapped up a fifth consecutive Monte Carlo Masters title and is overwhelming favourite to make it five-in-a-row at the French Open, but his uncle and coach Toni is still not happy. World number one Nadal enjoyed a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory over Novak Djokovic in the final here Sunday to equal the record of five titles set by New Zealander Anthony Wilding from a century ago. He is now 23-1 in claycourt finals, with his only loss coming at Hamburg in May 2007 to Roger Federer and has pulled level with the Swiss with 14 Masters crowns. Uncle Toni however wants more. "He played a good third set, but it's obvious he must play better than this week," said Nadal senior. "He was missing a little confidence in his game and you could see that his serve was incredibly weak. But it's the first tournament on clay this season for him and I hope that with some more matches, it'll get better. "We know that there's a lot of work to do before Roland-Garros. But he still won. It's a very important tournament for us and to win for a fifth time is incredible." Nadal, who now has a 139-4 winning record on clay since 2005, insists that thoughts of a fifth French Open triumph are at the back of his mind with the Barcelona and Rome Masters to come in between a return to Paris. "I'm not thinking about Roland Garros yet, I'm focused on Barcelona and Rome - there are more important tournaments before Paris," said Nadal. "It's unbelieveble to win five titles in Monte Carlo. If I had to pick one Masters Series to win before the season it would be here. "I felt well physically and mentally on the court." Djokovic, the world number three, praised Nadal's claycourt power. "You just have to be focused every single point because you have a player on the other side of the net that doesn't really give you any points," said the Serbian. "You could see him at 5-1 in the third set, he played like it?s 5-all. He really doesn't care about the result. He just wants to give his best every single point. That's why he's very unique and that's why he's the best now." Nadal's next task ahead is his bid for a fifth consecutive title at his home Barcelona Open starting Monday. The Spanish star, from the island of Mallorca, considers the city something of a second home, with his past title runs at the Real Club proving real crowd-pleasers for the Catalan public. Nadal last lost at the venue in the 2003 second round, going out to Alex Corretja, current claycourt coach of Andy Murray, the man he defeated in the Monte Carlo semi-finals on Saturday. Barcelona is part of another ambitious spring schedule for the world number one, who is tuning up for his assault on a fifth straight French Open triumph at Roland Garros from May 24 by playing four out of five weeks. And despite dominating on the surface, the reigning Wimbledon, Paris and Australian Open champion warned: "I haven't played to my level on clay yet, I'm still not at my best. "So I have to improve if I want to have chances." That is considered fair warning to second-seeded compatriot Fernando Verdasco as well as returning Russian Nikolay Davydenko, the third seed, out for much of the season with a heel injury but revitalised by a Monte Carlo quarter-final. Spaniard David Ferrer and wild card Fernando Gonzalez of Chile make up the top five seeds. Russian Marat Safin, the 2000 champion, has been given a wild card as he plays what he says is his final season. He begins his campaign against Juan Monaco.