History can wait! - Rafael Nadal

NEW YORK - Rafael Nadal is closing in on a piece of tennis history, but insists it is not something that is in the forefront of his mind.


The Spanish powerhouse has won five French Opens, two Wimbledons and one Australian Open and needs just the US Open to complete the set and join Roger Federer, Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Roy Emerson, Don Budge and Fred Perry in the annals of the sport.

Even though he agrees that Flushing Meadows will always be the Grand Slam tournament he is least suited to, Nadal is getting closer with runs into the semi-finals in the last two years.

And with back-to-back titles in the French Open and at Wimbledon in the summer, Nadal is the form player in the five-set, two-week long version of the sport.

Asked repeatedly this week what it would mean to him to be part of tennis's Magnificent Seven, Nadal complained: "You are focused on this."

"Maybe for Roger it was a big goal because he is the best in history and he needed Roland Garros. He deserved Roland Garros because he did three finals, another semi-finals," he added.

"Seriously, for me to complete the Grand Slam at this moment is not a goal. For me the goal is to try and improve my level, to play well in the next match, and we will see what happens next Sunday, no?

"For me it is not an obsession and it is not a real goal."

Nadal has scored straight-set wins in his two matches so far this year in New York even though he had to work hard in both against Russia's Teymuraz Gabashvili and Denis Istomin of Ukraine.

And in both cases, it was clear that he has made improvements to his service, which he agrees has been the one weakness in his otherwise exceptional game.


Nadal's action is whippy and appears rushed, unlike the smooth deliveries sent down by such rivals as Federer and Andy Murray, and he has been working hard with his coach and uncle Toni Nadal to improve things.


Against Gabashvili and especially against Istomin, where he whacked one serve down at 134 miles an hour, his hard work appears to be paying dividends.

""I started to serve well one or two days before the competition. But the week of practice, I wasn't serving really well," he said.


"I changed a little bit the grip five or six days ago because I felt when I played against the wind I didn't have free points.


"So I tried to play the serve a little bit more aggressive. For the moment it's working well so I am going to try and keep playing like this. And sure serving like this is a big confidence in my game."


The other concern that usually surrounds Nadal at the US Open is the state of his knees and general fitness after a long, hard summer.

In the last two years he has reached the last-four stage in a depleted state both physically and mentally and lost to Murray in 2008 and Juan Martin del Potro last year.


But thus far this year, Nadal says he is feeling fully fit.


Nadal next plays Gilles Simon of France in Sunday's third round