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London: Rafael Nadal is willing to put his body and his bank balance on the line as he bids to get back on track after plunging to his lowest ranking for a decade.
Nadal has endured a miserable run in 2015 and the Spaniard hit a new low last month when the nine-time French Open champion suffered only his second loss in 72 matches at Roland Garros.
The 29-year-old`s quarter-final exit against Novak Djokovic pushed him down to 10th in the ATP rankings — the first time he has occupied such a low position since 2005.
Nadal is determined to purge the memory of a dismal five months by making a strong challenge for the Wimbledon title later this month and he took the first steps towards that goal by winning the grass-court tournament in Stuttgart last week.
But rather than take a break after that morale-boosting success, Nadal, who has suffered a series of debilitating knee injuries throughout his career, has headed straight to Queen`s Club in west London, where he faces Ukranian Alexandr Dolgopolov in the first round on Tuesday.
“It`s easy; I didn`t play enough good before. The first three months and a half of the season have been terrible for me, playing very bad almost every week,” Nadal told reporters when asked why he was putting himself through such a gruelling schedule.
“I wasn`t enjoying being on court. I was playing with too many nerves.
“After losing in Roland Garros I came back home. I spent one day on the sea, then the next day playing golf and I felt mentally and physically I was ready to play well again.
“A few times I had problems with my knees, but the knees are fine now. I don`t have physical limitations like I did in 2012 and 2013.
“I feel strong. I have the motivation to be back to my best. After what happened in Roland Garros, having the chance to win a title the week after was very good news for me.”While world number one Djokovic won`t play a warm-up event before Wimbledon and Roger Federer and Andy Murray play only one — at Halle and Queen`s respectively — Nadal has followed his Stuttgart win by returning to Queen`s for the first time in four years.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion claimed his only Queen`s title in 2008 — the year he won Wimbledon for the first time — and he believes the benefits of extended preparation time on the grass-courts are worth suffering a potential financial loss.
Under British tax laws, foreign sports people have to pay tax on their worldwide earnings while working in the United Kingdon, which for Nadal — whose estimated worth is $32.5 million (28.8 million euros) according to Forbes — could represent a fairly large sum for his time at Queen`s.
“I think that changed a little bit. It`s still not the ideal situation for us, but it is better than a few years ago. I had to stop playing here for a while,” Nadal said about the tax issue.
For now, Nadal will instead focus about continuing to play his way back into form — even if he says he isn`t worried about winning a third Wimbledon title.
“I don`t know and I don`t care much (about winning Grand Slams). Seriously, my goal is to qualify for the World Tour Finals at the end of the season now,” he added.
