As good as it gets: Rafael Nadal's 2009 is going perfect (Feature)

By Daniel Garcia Marco Mar 23, 2009, 17:52 GMT

Madrid - Fewer tournaments to maximize his performance: world number one Rafael Nadal's plan for 2009 is delivering results with amazing precision.

On Sunday, in Indian Wells, Nadal, 22, lifted his second trophy of the season, number 33 in his career, to win his 13th Masters. The two most important tournaments in the first quarter of the year - the Australian Open and the first Masters of the season - have been won by the Spaniard.

'It is difficult to start better,' Nadal admitted on his website. 'Although it is only the start, it is a great start.'

Nadal is en route to Miami, where another of the year's major tournaments starts Wednesday.

To his two titles so far this year, the best tennis player in the world has added two singles wins in Spain's Davis Cup tie against Serbia, which allowed Nadal and his team-mates to advance to the quarterfinals of the competition. That is three out of three goals achieved.

His performance in the Davis Cup and at Indian Wells - where he overcame five match-points in favour of Argentine David Nalbandian and also beat top players Juan Martin del Potro, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray in the final - might not have been possible had he not declined to play in Dubai in February to get some extra rest.

In the style of his great rival and predecessor as world number one, the Swiss Roger Federer, Nadal is looking to optimize his efforts to stay physically 100 per cent in a very demanding year.

Indeed, after Miami, Nadal is set to embark on the clay season, where he will have to defend many points. At the same time, he will seek to overtake Bjorn Borg as the best player in history on clay and to keep alive the dream of winning the Grand Slam - the four majors in the same season.

Nadal wants to look after his body, because his head always seems to be in good shape.

'It may be that I was better prepared than him, I went into the match with a more positive attitude and that, on a day like today, is important,' he said to explain how he managed to beat Murray 6-1, 6-2 in a clash that was marked by the wind.

'Irresistible,' British daily The Times said Monday of the Spaniard's play.

'Murray should not be too hard on himself. Rafael Nadal did what the very best do: he handled everything a little bit better, his touch was astounding and, despite his victory, one imagines that the Spaniard was a touch sad that a potential classic was ruined by wind,' the daily said.

World number four Murray, 21, had just beaten Federer for the fourth consecutive time, and he had beaten Nadal in the previous two clashes between them, including the recent final in Rotterdam. However, the Spaniard barely needed 81 minutes to crush the Scot.

Only Federer and Andre Agassi have won more Masters Series tournaments than the native of the island of Mallorca. In Miami, where he is set to take part in a promotional event with Serb Ana Ivanovic, Nadal is set to look for another title to keep his season right on track.

Everything is going great.