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 Spaniard Nadal, 27, won on the hard courts in Doha at the start
of the season before a back injury wrecked his chances in the
Australian Open final at the end of January.
He returned to take the title on clay in Rio de Janeiro the
following month and reached the final of last week's Sony Open
hard-court event, where he was beaten 6-3 6-3 by second-ranked Novak
Djokovic of Serbia.
He will be bidding for a ninth title at the Monte Carlo Masters
later this month before more clay events at Barcelona, Madrid and
Rome and then the French Open starting at the end of May, where he
is also chasing a ninth trophy.
Nadal said he was "more pleased than sad" about his performance on
the Miami hard courts but admitted that Djokovic had been much the
superior performer.
"In the Miami final I was not at the level of Djokovic; obviously he
was quite a bit better than me," Nadal said at an event organized by
new sponsor Banc Sabadell.
"But it was important for me in terms of confidence for the clay
season," he added.
"As always I am coming into the clay swing with the maximum level of
hopeful anticipation and I am eager to do well and eager to start
training on clay.
"I think I have started the season quite well, not fantastic but
good.
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"I have a favorable history on clay, but history doesn't help you
much in the present.
"The only thing I can do is try to work hard and get to the clay
season well prepared in tennis terms and in good physical and mental
shape."
Forty-three of Nadal's 62 singles titles have come on clay,
including eight at the Barcelona Open, two in Madrid on red dirt and
seven in Rome. He has 13 grand slam singles titles and a record 26
Masters crowns.
(Reporting by Iain Rogers; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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