MELBOURNE – Rafael Nadal said Tuesday he avoids reading reports about his quest for a ‘Rafa Slam’ and was not obsessed about winning a fourth consecutive major. The world number one was gifted passage into the Australian Open second round Tuesday when Marcos Daniel retired hurt, putting him a step closer to a non-calendar year Grand Slam.
The French Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion was leading 6-0, 5-0 when Brazilian journeyman Daniel, 32, conceded defeat after being troubled by a painful left knee injury. Nadal is bidding to become the first man to hold all four major titles since Australian Rod Laver in 1969. The Spaniard deflected talk of a historic victory here after chalking up his 22nd consecutive Grand Slam match victory, courtesy of Daniel’s retirement.
“I never read a lot about myself, so this is not an obsession,” Nadal said.”Seriously, the most positive thing that’s been talked about is because I have won the last three. The rest of the things don’t matter because I know how difficult every tournament is. “So the media have their job; I have my job. You can write what you think, and I am going to try my best every day to play well and to be competitive when I am on court. “But I never think about winning the four Grand Slams in a row because that’s still very far off right now.”
