Rafael Nadal insists his recent defeats by Novak Djokovic will not affect his mentality going into the French Open.The Spaniard is seeking his sixth title in seven years at Roland Garros but, for the first time since his maiden success as a teenager in 2005, there is a serious challenge to his reign as the king of clay.
Djokovic's incredible unbeaten start to the season has included four final victories over Nadal, including in successive clay Masters events in Madrid and Rome, putting him within touching distance of his rival's world number one ranking.
Nadal, though, played down the potential of a repeat here and instead chose to focus on a tricky-looking opening-round tie against giant American John Isner.
The humble 24-year-old said: "I can only play against him (Djokovic) in the final so, for me, if I am in the final, it will be a fantastic result.
"I will have a very difficult first round against Isner so I am focused on that. I always practise the same way, to be aggressive, to try to play my best tennis, and, if I can do that, hopefully I will have a chance to be in the final rounds."
The Rome match in particular - Djokovic's 39th win in a row and 37th of the season - saw the pair trading blows at a stunningly high level and Nadal insisted he took confidence out of that display despite the outcome.
He said: "In Madrid I didn't play well. Even if the score was closer, in my opinion, the level wasn't the same. In Rome, my opinion was different. The level was closer. The score was 6-4 6-4 but in the second set I felt I had big chances to win it.
"He's playing with extreme confidence all the time so what he did is really difficult to repeat another time. I just congratulate him for everything."
Djokovic struggled to live up to expectations after winning his first grand slam as a teenager at the Australian Open in 2008 and he did not make another final until last year's US Open, when he lost to Nadal.
That served notice of what was to come and the Serb has not looked back since breezing past Roger Federer and Andy Murray to win the Australian Open in January.
Nadal singled out confidence as the main reason behind Djokovic's success and insisted he always had the potential to put together such a series of results.
The Spaniard said: "Technically I don't think he's changed a lot of things. Probably right now he's defending better. But when you have this confidence it seems like you have improved everything a lot.
"Everybody knows how good Novak is and how good he can be, but it was the same a few years ago. Right now he's winning and, with the victories, your confidence is higher and higher every time."
First up Nadal must conquer the supreme serving talents of 6ft 9in American Isner, and the top seed admitted: "He's one of those players that you prefer not to have in the first round.
"His style of game is dangerous. His serve is unbelievable. I will have to be focused all the time. I have to be very focused with my serve."
Djokovic was drawn against Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker in the first round but his path looks potentially trickier than Nadal's, with Juan Martin Del Potro, Thomaz Bellucci and Richard Gasquet all in his section, while Tomas Berdych is a potential quarter-final opponent.
Roger Federer, who is also in the bottom half of the draw, faces experienced Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the first round while other notable match-ups include Del Potro against giant Croatian Ivo Karlovic and Fernando Verdasco taking on Juan Monaco.
Djokovic's incredible unbeaten start to the season has included four final victories over Nadal, including in successive clay Masters events in Madrid and Rome, putting him within touching distance of his rival's world number one ranking.
Nadal, though, played down the potential of a repeat here and instead chose to focus on a tricky-looking opening-round tie against giant American John Isner.
The humble 24-year-old said: "I can only play against him (Djokovic) in the final so, for me, if I am in the final, it will be a fantastic result.
"I will have a very difficult first round against Isner so I am focused on that. I always practise the same way, to be aggressive, to try to play my best tennis, and, if I can do that, hopefully I will have a chance to be in the final rounds."
The Rome match in particular - Djokovic's 39th win in a row and 37th of the season - saw the pair trading blows at a stunningly high level and Nadal insisted he took confidence out of that display despite the outcome.
He said: "In Madrid I didn't play well. Even if the score was closer, in my opinion, the level wasn't the same. In Rome, my opinion was different. The level was closer. The score was 6-4 6-4 but in the second set I felt I had big chances to win it.
"He's playing with extreme confidence all the time so what he did is really difficult to repeat another time. I just congratulate him for everything."
Djokovic struggled to live up to expectations after winning his first grand slam as a teenager at the Australian Open in 2008 and he did not make another final until last year's US Open, when he lost to Nadal.
That served notice of what was to come and the Serb has not looked back since breezing past Roger Federer and Andy Murray to win the Australian Open in January.
Nadal singled out confidence as the main reason behind Djokovic's success and insisted he always had the potential to put together such a series of results.
The Spaniard said: "Technically I don't think he's changed a lot of things. Probably right now he's defending better. But when you have this confidence it seems like you have improved everything a lot.
"Everybody knows how good Novak is and how good he can be, but it was the same a few years ago. Right now he's winning and, with the victories, your confidence is higher and higher every time."
First up Nadal must conquer the supreme serving talents of 6ft 9in American Isner, and the top seed admitted: "He's one of those players that you prefer not to have in the first round.
"His style of game is dangerous. His serve is unbelievable. I will have to be focused all the time. I have to be very focused with my serve."
Djokovic was drawn against Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker in the first round but his path looks potentially trickier than Nadal's, with Juan Martin Del Potro, Thomaz Bellucci and Richard Gasquet all in his section, while Tomas Berdych is a potential quarter-final opponent.
Roger Federer, who is also in the bottom half of the draw, faces experienced Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the first round while other notable match-ups include Del Potro against giant Croatian Ivo Karlovic and Fernando Verdasco taking on Juan Monaco.
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