Nadal happy with his aggressive style of playing

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-05 16:35

There have been a lot of worrying talk about Rafael Nadal's fierce style of playing which could force the Spaniard out of action at an early age, but the 23-year-old shrugged off the injury scare and said he is happy with his game.

Nadal happy with his aggressive style of playing

Rafael Nadal of Spain hits a return to Fernando Gonzalez of Chile at the US Open tennis tournament in New York, September 12, 2009. [Agencies]

"I started being professional tennis player at 16 years old and I have had seven years under my belt already. I think that's a very long career, and lots of players start at 21 and finish at 29," said Nadal, attending his second China Open here in Beijing.

"I've played the last five years without going out of number one or number two, except one week this year, so if you're not fit and your body is not in good conditions it's impossible to be five years in the top two. Everybody said that in 2005 but now it's 2009 and I'm still at the same number.

"I have aggressive style of game, but I think no one can choose what style to play. I do all in my hands to play my tennis, sure I would love to serve like Kalovic and volley like Federer, but my game is another. I'm happy with my game. With my game I have a very good career right now."

Nadal seemed to reach his peak last year by winning the long coveted Wimbledon trophy and the world number one ranking after the Olympic success.

The season of 2009 started strong for the bulllike youngster who claimed the Australian Open for the first time, but it did not take long before he lost the top ranking to nemesis Roger Federer and the injury talk became the media hype again.

"It's been a more difficult year for me because I had an injury of the knee and then the abdominal injury during the US Open," said the Spaniard, who provided butterflies in the stomach to the China Open organisers with his possible pull-out.

The US Open was his last tournament where the injury-hit player lost to eventual champion Juan Martin Del Potro from Argentina in the semifinals. He then took nearly one month off for treatment and holiday, sidelined from the Thailand Open and the Davis Cup matches.

China Open, which has just been elevated in both ATP and WTA events, will be his buildup tournament before the Shanghai Masters which follows heel.

"After one year like this, you are always a little bit scared, but I try to work hard to stay fit and that's what I'm going to do in all my career," he added.

Nadal, the 2005 China Open winner, will meet Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, the 2006 China Open winner, in the first round of the $2.1 million ATP tournament.