Rafael Nadal - Aiming for repeat of Olympic Gold

Courtesy: Sportal

Spanish tennis ace Rafael Nadal said he has every intention of defending his Olympic men's singles title at the 2012 London Games.

The 24-year-old defeated Chile's Fernando Gonzalez to claim gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and has taken his game to another level in the years since.

Nadal assumed Roger Federer's world number one ranking and claimed three Grand Slam titles in a career-best 2010 season.

Speaking after he was named sportsman of the year at the Laureus Sports Awards in Abu Dhabi on Monday, Nadal modestly said he hoped to still be in good enough form to qualify for the next Olympics.

"Everyone wants to play (in the) Olympics. I am not an exception," Nadal said.

"For sure, I hope to be ready to be in London. To play in London you have to qualify, because you have to be in the top three or top four in your country."

"You know the Spanish tennis players' level is very high. If I am not playing my best tennis or I am not healthy and not 100 percent prepared, I don't know if I will qualify for London, but my goal, for sure, is to be there."

"I love the Olympics. I enjoyed the Olympics very much in 2008 in Beijing. Not because I won - for sure, that's something extra - but I loved the spirit of the Olympic Games and being in the (Olympic) village with the rest of the sportsmen and sportswomen of the world."

"That's an unbelievable experience. I enjoyed it a lot and I would love to relive the experience."