Tennis: Nadal shifts focus to Spanish clay

BARCELONA: Rafael Nadal prepared to move from one record-setting week to the next as the eight-time Monte Carlo champion settled in as top seed at his home Barcelona Open. Less than 24 hours after crushing Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-1 for his eighth straight trophy on the clay of the principality, Nadal was outlining his chances of claiming a seventh in Barcelona, the hotbed of Spanish tennis. "Beating the number one is special, but Djokovic made more errors than usual and I took advantage of that,” said Nadal. "I'm only concentrating on playing well as this is one of the nicest tournaments of the year for me. I'm home and this is very special to me.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2012.