Rafael Nadal was not taking his fifth Monte Carlo Masters title as a guarantee of success at the French Open even though he has followed up his previous wins in the principality with victory at Roland Garros.
Nadal had to dig deep to beat world No 3 Novak Djokovic 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 for his record fifth successive title, dropping a set for the first time since his 2006 final against Roger Federer.
"I did it four years. That's nothing, no? It is a completely different tournament and there are some weeks left before Roland Garros," the Spaniard told reporters.
"I am focused on Barcelona and Rome later (this season). So, yes, there are some important tournaments before."
However, Nadal has now won 27 successive matches in Monte Carlo and is undefeated at the French Open, having triumphed at the claycourt Grand Slam four times in as many attempts.
The 22-year-old said there was some room for improvement in his game, especially on serve.
Nadal was broken twice in the opening set as Serb Djokovic opened a 3-1 lead.
"The serve is really important because I was serving better in the beginning of the season," Nadal said.
"In this tournament I didn't serve very well. Especially my second serve, sometimes it was 120 kph.
"So that's a disaster. I have to play more, I have to serve better next week. I am going to have two days to work on this," added Nadal, who will defend his title at the Barcelona Open which starts on Monday.
The Monte Carlo Masters has a special place in Nadal's heart especially after his uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, was made a member of honor of the Monte Carlo Country Club on Friday.
"If I had to choose one Masters Series before the start of the season to win, Monte Carlo would be in the first position," he said.
"The city, the atmosphere, everything is special, the history of the tournament. Yeah, this tournament is always special for me."
Nadal is now 23-1 in claycourt finals, with his only loss coming at Hamburg in May 2007 to Roger Federer and has pulled level with the Swiss with 14 Masters crowns.
Uncle Toni however wants more.
"He played a good third set, but it's obvious he must play better than this week," said Nadal senior.
"He was missing a little confidence in his game and you could see that his serve was incredibly weak. But it's the first tournament on clay this season for him and I hope that with some more matches, it'll get better.
"We know that there's a lot of work to do before Roland-Garros. But he still won. It's a very important tournament for us and to win for a fifth time is incredible."
Nadal, who now has a 139-4 winning record on clay since 2005, insists that thoughts of a fifth French Open triumph are at the back of his mind with the Barcelona and Rome Masters to come in between a return to Paris.
"It's unbelieveble to win five titles in Monte Carlo. If I had to pick one Masters Series to win before the season it would be here," Nadal said.
"I felt well physically and mentally on the court."
Djokovic, the world No 3, praised Nadal's claycourt power.
"You just have to be focused every single point because you have a player on the other side of the net that doesn't really give you any points," said the Serbian.
"You could see him at 5-1 in the third set, he played like it's 5-all. He really doesn't care about the result. He just wants to give his best every single point. That's why he's very unique and that's why he's the best now."
(Reuters and AFP via China Daily April 21, 2009)
