Rafael Nadal: I can get back to the top

Stan Wawrinka may have dethroned Rafael Nadal
as the new king of the clay, but the Spaniard is
confident he will continue to be a major force in
tennis.
Last week Rafael Nadal crashed out of the French
Open in a straight sets quarterfinal defeat against
world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who was defeated by
Wawrinka in Sunday's final.
And after suffering only his second ever defeat at
Roland Garros, and his first since 2009, nine-time
French Open champion Nadal sank to his lowest
position ranking since April 2005.
"When your opponent is better than you, you
have to accept that," the14-time grand slam
champion, who has lost four matches on clay in a
season for the first time since 2003, told a press
conference Monday, referring to his defeat by
Djokovic.
"Novak had been better than me and I have to
work hard to improve my level of tennis, my level
of intensity on court and if that happens I'm
confident I can be back and compete at the
highest level."
Nadal admitted that he paid little attention to the
final but he labeled as Wawrinka one of the
fiercest competitors on tour.
"I didn't watch the match, I was practicing," he
said. "I watched a few games.
"But obviously Wawrinka is a player that if you're
not able to let him play from the tough positions
and if he's playing well, I think he's a player that
hits the ball with more power on the tour.
"It's tough to stop him, it's tough to have the
control of the match against him. I think
Wawrinka is a player that can create winners from
everywhere.
"When he's playing well, he's one of the best
players in the world and he's dangerous for
everybody."