Nadal eyeing to build on 11th Monte Carlo title

After picking up his 11th Monte Carlo Masters title by beating Japan's Kei Nishikori in the finals, world number one Rafael Nadal has said that he is looking forward to carry on his momentum from this 'special' win to rest of the clay-court season.

Yesterday, the top-seed continued a rich vein of form as he eased past his Japanese opponent Nishikori 6-3, 6-2 in the Monte Carlo Masters final to clinch his 31st Masters title.

Reflecting on the same, Nadal said that the victory at the Monte Carlo means a lot to him as it is the first tournament of the year that he finished without an injury.

"Of course it is a special day for me. Winning again this title here in Monte-Carlo means a lot, especially because it is the first tournament in the year that I finished. To have the victory in a Masters 1000, especially in Monte-Carlo, that for me is one of the most important ones in terms of personal feeling and in terms of history of our sport," the ATP website quoted Nadal, as saying.

Prior to Monte Carlo, Nadal had not appeared in full tournament since the Shanghai Masters in November 2017 due to injury concerns. He was forced to withdraw in the quarter-final of Australian Open in January due to a hip injury before its recurrence saw him pull out of the Acapulco Open and subsequently from the Indian Wells and Miami Open.

And the 16-time Grand Slam champion said that it is his eagerness to play with 'full passion and full energy' that helps him move towards the success.

"My true feeling is these kind of things are not going to happen forever, so I just try to enjoy them and to play with the full passion and with the full energy and concentration, full love for the sport until I can," the Spaniard said.

The 31-year-old further asserted that he is just trying to enjoy each and every moment of the latter part of his career.

"I know the day to say goodbye is closer than 10 years ago. It is something that I am not worried about, but it is a real thing. So I am just enjoying every day and trying to play with the best attitude possible, to keep being happy playing tennis. That's all," he said.

Nadal will now be eyeing his 11th title in the upcoming Barcelona Open before he would set his sights on 11th French Open title at Roland Garros.