Nadal ready for challenge to derail Federer Express

26 Jun, 2006

- Rafael Nadal has declared himself fit and ready for his bid to stop Roger Federer's drive towards a fourth straight Wimbledon title. The Spaniard, who has beaten Federer in six of their seven meetings, saw his preparations for this year's tournament disrupted when a shoulder injury forced him to pull out of the warm-up event at Queen's.
But on the eve of the tournament, Nadal reported that he was playing without pain and happy with the way the rest of his build-up had gone. "I feel like I have been getting better every day and I'm happy with my level," he said.
Nadal goes into the tournament fresh from extending his unbeaten run on clay to a phenomenal 60 matches with his French Open final victory over Federer. But he recognises that he still has some work to do if he is to match the quality of his Swiss rival's display on the lawns at the All England club.
"My confidence is good, but I know it is important to become a more complete player because we have one of the best tournaments in the world on grass."

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