Rafael Nadal is back, back in Chennai after finishing the year as world No 2 for the third year in succession. Chennai has never been his happy hunting ground, bowing out early in his two previous visits.

The Spaniard, the darling of the tennis-mad crowds here, is scheduled to take on lowly Mathieu Montcourt of France in the opening round of the 12th edition of the ATP Tour event. After a far-from-happy workout with countryman Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on centre court on the eve of the $436,000 Chennai Open on Sunday, Nadal spoke to media on various topics. Excerpts:

On his chances of winning the Golden Slam (four Grand Slams and the Olympic gold): I don't think I can win all four Grand Slams in a year. Definitely not this year! The four Grand Slams and the Olympic Games are tough to win in one year. Last year, I won the French Open and reached the final at Wimbledon. Right now, I'm here in Chennai and it is important for me to do well here. This is a good tournament, the first tournament of the year and I want to start the year well.

On playing the Olympics: After the four Grand Slams, it is the most important tournament of the year. The Davis Cup is also there, but the Olympic Games happens once in four years. It is a special tournament and you have special motivation to play well.

On pre-season training: I took a short break with my family, we went to Egypt. Otherwise, I have been practising hard, practising all days, six hours a day.

On his knee injury: I don't want to speak about injuries. Papers write something which is not 100 percent true, you say one thing and something else is written. I don't mind talking about my tennis, but not the injuries. The injuries don't matter now because I feel 100 percent fine.

On his goals for 2008: I want to be a better player than I was in 2007. I am not saying I that I want to win more tournaments and have better results. I want to be a better player, play better tennis. Winning and losing is not in your control sometimes. You play your best and your opponent plays better, you can't do anything about it.
On whether he was tired of being No 2: I would love to be number two for 50 more years. Especially in my situation, 5,600 or 5,700 points, that is a lot. In a normal moment in the history of tennis, I would have been No 1. At this point, Roger (Federer) is the better player, but who knows of the future?

On his rivalry with Federer: It is difficult to play better than I did in 2007. I played very well on grass, clay and indoors too. I played well this season. It is very difficult to play well all year. I am not worried about Roger. He is better than the other guys at the moment. But a lot of young guys are coming from behind right now.

On match-fixing in the sport: I can say nothing about that. There is nothing strange on the Tour, I don't see anything strange happening. The press and everyone else is speaking about it. Tennis is a fair sport. I have 100 percent confidence in my friends on the Tour. If something is happening the ATP is taking care of it.