Rafael Nadal to play with his old racquet in the Madrid Masters

Rafael Nadal

Madrid, May 4 (IANS)

Spain's World No.4 tennis star Rafael Nadal has said he will be playing with his old racquet in the Madrid Masters and the rest of the season in an effort to regain shot control. The 28-year-old switched to a new racquet to increase the power and spin on his shots at the last two tournaments he played, reports Efe.

"I changed because I believe that in the end, I'd used this one for many years and practiced very little with the new one, and it's the one I need. I had only a few days to prepare with it before Monte Carlo," Nadal said on Sunday.

The Madrid Open, a Masters 1000 event, is being played at the Caja Magica.

Nadal said the fact that Serbian World No.1 Novak Djokovic would not be at the Caja Magica "opens the door for other players."

"This is an opportunity to win a big tournament. It doesn't mean that you can't win other tournaments when he's here because you can't win all the tournaments," Nadal said.

The Madrid Open is one of the biggest clay-court events on the tennis calendar and a key tune-up for the French Open, which starts on May 24.