Rafa Ready For Clay Challenge

© Getty ImagesRafael Nadal goes into Monte-Carlo in a rich vein of form after reaching the finals at Indian Wells and Miami.

As he prepares to open his clay-court campaign at the Monte-Carlo Country Club in a week’s time, World No. 1 Rafael Nadal believes it will be nigh on impossible for him to repeat his remarkable achievement of 2010, when he won all three clay-court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophies before triumphing at Roland Garros.

“That's a once in a lifetime [achievement] to win every tournament on clay.  Nobody else has done it in history, only myself last year. So it's difficult to imagine two years in a row [I] can repeat that,” said the Spaniard.

The 24-year-old Nadal goes into the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters after runner-up finishes at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami (l. to Djokovic both times) and is chasing a 19th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy; he already holds the all-time record with 18 of the coveted titles. “For me, [I am] seriously happy about how I'm playing, happy about my level of this tournament,” said the left-hander. “Normally when I play well on clay I have a little bit more advantage, so let's see what's going on week in Monte Carlo.”

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Nadal has a staggering 34-1 record at the Monte-Carlo Country Club, having won the title the past six straight years since reaching the third round on his 2003 debut (l. to Coria). Last year, he raced to victory for the loss of just 14 games in five matches. However, the Mallorcan believes his run in Monte-Carlo will come to an end eventually.

“Hopefully I [am] going to be playing well this tournament. This is important confidence for me.  Let's try my best in Monte Carlo. First tournament of clay is always important. But it's not going to be perfect.  I’m not going to win ten times in a row Monte Carlo. That's sure. I won six in a row. I am going to try my best for the seventh, but I know how difficult is every tournament.”

The Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters begins on Sunday, 10 April, and features seven of the Top 10 players in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings, with Roger Federer, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, Fernando Verdasco, Jurgen Melzer and Gael Monfils joining Nadal.