"I'm not worried" - says Nadal about being in Djokovic's and Federer's half

Rafael Nadal is in the same half of the Roland-Garros draw as Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer but the Spaniard is not worried about it.

Rafael Nadal has won thirteen Roland-Garros titles in his career so far out of 20 Grand Slams titles he won in his career. If he wins it this year he will emerge on top of the list of most Grand Slams title ever with 21. But the road will be difficult as Nadal is in the same half as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Asked about it he said:

"I see it as natural. One player is almost 40 [Federer], another is almost 35 [Nadal] and the other is 34 [Djokovic]. It seems logical that younger players [will] climb in the [FedEx ATP] Rankings. Whenever that happens you have these consequences [with the seedings]. I see it as completely normal. I’m not worried about it. I have a lot of work in front of me to play a potential match versus Djokovic [in the semi-final].

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Nadal underlined his focus on his first-round matchups admitting he is not thinking too far ahead:

“They would need to play each other and I have my own path. My path right now is [Alexei] Popyrin [in the first round] and that’s where my mind is. My draw is hard enough to be thinking about anything else. I must continue my preparation, focus on my routines and keep advancing in the way we want.”

Nadal will face a familiar player in round 1 of the French Open as he will play Alexei Popyrin. He faced him at the Madrid Open a few weeks back defeating him 6-3 6-3. On that matchup he said:

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“He's young, he has the power. He has big shots. As always, I need to be ready for it. I need to keep practising [over] the next couple of days [and] try to be in the best shape possible. I know every round is tough, I always respect every opponent."

Nadal also reflected on his statue which he received this year saying:

“It means a lot. Having a statue within such a special place for our sport, in a place that is very special for me is something unique. Not being French, I can only say thanks to the FFT, to the former President who promoted it and the current President who continued with the project.”