Madrid - Winning a gold medal for your country at the Olympic Games
is the greatest achievement in tennis, world No 2 Rafael Nadal said on
Friday, while also leaving the door open to a possible return to Spain's
Davis Cup team in September.
After his triumph in Beijing four
years ago, Nadal will be chasing a second Olympic singles gold in
London, when the event in July and August will be staged on the grass
courts of Wimbledon's All England Club.
In an interview with
Reuters, the 25-year-old said that for him personally the Olympics
ranked above the four grand slams in prestige.
"The Olympic
Games is very special for many reasons and in my opinion the biggest one
because you are representing your country," Nadal said as he prepares
for the Madrid Masters event starting next week.
"You have the
feeling that you are with all the Spanish sportsmen representing our
country," added the Mallorcan, who beat Chile's Fernando Gonzalez to win
the gold in 2008.
Nadal's pride in representing the Iberian
nation was evident as he helped them to a fifth Davis Cup triumph in
last year's final against Argentina but he said afterwards he would not
play in the competition in 2012 due to the congested calendar.
However, he is now not ruling out returning to the team for September's
World Group semifinal at home to the United States, when the holders
will continue their bid for a fourth title in five years.
"There
remain a lot of months, a lot of important events, so I cannot think
about it when I am here in Madrid preparing for an important tournament
like this one," Nadal said.
"So let's see how the season goes and I will wait until that date before deciding."
Nadal's season was disrupted in March when he was forced to pull out of
his Sony Ericsson Open semifinal against Andy Murray in Miami due to a
recurrent knee problem.
He returned to fitness in time to claim a
record eighth straight Monte Carlo Masters on his favoured clay last
month and went on to become the first player to win two events seven
times at last week's Barcelona Open.
"I am okay," he said when quizzed about the injury.
"I've played two weeks back to back in Monte Carlo and Barcelona with no problems," he added.
"That's very important for me, a lot of confidence for my mind. And the answer: the knee is now perfect."
Nadal, a 10-times grand slam singles champion, is due to begin the
defence of his French Open title in Paris at the end of this month.
- News 24