Paris: Spanish tennis ace Rafael Nadal will focus more on maintaining his competitivenes, rather than on keeping the World No. 1 position, ahead of his possible 11th title at Roland Garros.

“My feeling is of course better to be No. 1 than be No. 2 or No. 5, but the most important thing is to feel myself competitive to play all events that I want to play and to feel myself really to have success in these important events,” Nadal said at a press conference on Friday.

Nadal returned to world No. 1 with his success at the ATP Rome Masters. The top position has changed hands between Nadal and his arch rival Roger Federer four times since the year started.

“After a very tough beginning of the season with two injuries in the same place, now I feel good. I came back and played a lot of matches well, having success since I came back in Davis Cup,” said Nadal.

Nadal came back to Roland Garros with a record of 19-1 on clay court this year. The ‘king of clay’ is well-poised for his record-extending 11th trophy in Paris, as several potential threats were slotted into a different half.

“Every tournament is different,” he admitted, adding that “here we are to try our best, have good days of practice before the tournament starts, and be very competitive for the beginning.”

Nadal has noticed the rise of a handful of talented players in recent years, represented by second-seeded Alexander Zverev and Austrian Dominic Thiem.

“I cannot predict what’s going on, but there is a generation of players with a lot of talent and great potential to become big stars of this sport. Let’s see how things happen in the next couple of months or years,” he added.

Nadal will kick off his title defence at Roland Garros against Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine in what has been a better part of the draw in Paris.

Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka as well as Austria’s Dominic Thiem who ended Nadal’s 50-set winning run on clay in the Madrid Masters quarter-finals, are all in the other half of the draw where Alexander Zverev is the second seed.

Nadal’s path to the final could see him face childhood friend Richard Gasquet in the third round, possibly Denis Shapovalov in the last-16, then Kevin Anderson, who he beat in the 2017 US Open final, and third-seed Marin Cilic in the semi-finals.

Nadal insists that his setback in Madrid is now a thing of the past, pointing to the radically different conditions in Paris.

“Everybody knows that Madrid is the most different tournament on clay — at the same time it is the most difficult one, because the ball flies a lot.

“This altitude is a different story. Of course I lost in a match that I didn’t play very well.

“So of course it was important for me to stay there mentally, to be ready for Rome, and that’s what I did. I think I played a good tournament there.”