An El of a summer

Jun 22 2008 Gavin Berry

RAFA NADAL has set his sights on a dream football-tennis double for Spain to complete his perfect sporting summer.

The world No.2 will sit in his rented London home tonight and watch the Spaniards battle it out with Italy for a semi-final place at Euro 2008.

Nadal is backing Spain to end their 88-year winless run against the Azzurri in competitive games on their way to lifting the Henri Delaunay trophy next Sunday.

And he wants to follow that up by ending his own hoodoo against Roger Federer at Wimbledon.

On the eve of the championships at SW19, Rafa said: "I've been able to relax between practice to see Spain and I'll be watching the match against Italy. We are going to win this year - no doubt.

"If Spain win Euro 2008 and I also win Wimbledon it would be perfect."

As if that wouldn't be enough for Nadal, the 22-year-old is greedy for more dreams to come true in the next couple of weeks.

And he wants to complete a hat-trick of triumphs by seeing Cristiano Ronaldo sign for Real Madrid.

Despite his uncleMiguel having played for Barcelona, Rafa is a fan of Real and he said: "In Spain they are all talking about whether Ronaldo is going to Madrid.

"Would I like to see him there? For sure, yes. Sorry Manchester!"

Nadal is hoping to avenge last year's final defeat to Federer at the All England Club but laughed off claims that the Swiss champ is losing a bit of his magic on grass.

Rafa, who thumped Federer in the French Open final, grinned: "I definitely think Roger is more vulnerable - he lost a set in the Halle tournament! Fifty-nine matches without losing? Come on, please."

Nadal's grass-court game is said to be improving and he won his first title on the surface in the Stella Artois championship at Queen's Club last weekend.

But Rafa - who faces Andreas Beck in the Wimbledon first round - just reckons his overall game has got better.

He said: "Every year you try to improve your tennis. It is stupid to say you just improve on grass. What are you improving?

"It's impossible to improve on grass when you are only playing two weeks in a year.

You can serve a little better, you can go to the net more times, you can have one slice, you can play more aggressively. All that will help you on grass."

Another player being tipped to end Federer's dominance this year is Novak Djokovic.

And the Serbian star insists he doesn't care if it takes him a decade to win Wimbledon as long as he gets to taste glory one day.

The 21-year-old is one of the main threats to Federer's crown as he looks to follow up his Australian Open success with another Grand Slam.

But modest Djokovic isn't getting carried away and knows it could take some time before he fulfils his ultimate dream of winning at SW19.

He said: "This is one of the most prestigious tournaments in tennis. It is one ofmy dreams to win Wimbledon. But of course I wouldn't complain if it takes 10 years to win there.

"I will try to work hard and results will come. I'm sure about that. I have to go step by step. It's a two-week event and 128 players are fighting for the title."

Djokovic faces German Michael Berrer in the first round and insists January's Australian Open success has given him the confidence to land other Grand Slam title.

He said: "It makes me more equipped having won a Grand Slam. People look at you in a different way - there's much more appreciation and respect for what you have done.

"Before this year's Australian Open I was one of the potential players to win a Grand Slam. I had a really good run in 2007 but I still wasn't able to do it.

"Now I've done it. I'm a Grand Slam winner and you get in the history books. Not many players manage to achieve that."

The No.3 seed reckons the pressure is piling on defending champion Federer with question marks over his invincibility on grass. And he's ready to turn up the heat on the Swiss star.

Djokovic, who is on a semi-final collision course with Federer, said: "Roger isn't as good as in the past four or five years when he was really dominant.

"It's normal to have ups and downs and he's feeling the pressure a little bit.

"It's a big challenge to defend the world No.1 spot and it's becoming more interesting to see new names and faces."