World number one Rafael Nadal is not confident of winning his third Wimbledon title at the All England Club, he said after winning his record-extending ninth French Open title, starting 23 June.
The 14-time major winner has a love-hate relationship with the Wimbledon, as after winning his first crown he couldn't defend his title 12 months later because of a knee injury. He collected his second title at All England Club in 2010 and finished runners up the following year.
Nadal has a terrible record in his last two outing at the Wimbledon, as in 2011 he lost in the second round against Lukas Rosol and was knocked out last year in the opening round by unseeded Steve Darcis, the only time he faced a first round exit in a major tournament.
The man from Mallorca without wasting any time, following his victory at the Roland Garros, headed straight to Germany to play in the Gerry Weber Open, a tune up event before the Wimbledon. The Spaniard said he is determined to play well in the grass-court tournament, but not very optimistic about the outcomes.
"I want to try to play well at Wimbledon again," said Nadal. "I am healthy, that's the most important thing. I hope my knee will have a positive feeling on grass because I felt my knee was better last year on other surfaces."
"Grass is always a little bit harder for me after injury," he added. "I played Wimbledon in 2012 with my knee injury and I never played another match after. Last year I tried but I was not ready enough to compete. Let's see how my feelings this year are because it's a very important tournament."
The 28-year-old said his loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the Australian Open finals was a big blow and his confidence had taken a beating, due to which he lost three matches in a clay-court season first time in a decade, before the French Open.
"Stan played amazingly, I don't know if I would have been able to beat him," Nadal said. "But I didn't compete in that match and that was hard to accept.
"I had a few months where I went down mentally," he added. "I was fighting but didn't feel strong enough. But for the last month, I had my motivation and positive feelings on court again."
Nadal was ousted by Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in the Aus Open final when he suffered a back injury. During the French Open, Nadal had pointed out that his back problem has slowed him down and it could be a cause of trouble for the top seeded in the forthcoming Grand Slam event.
