Nadal ready to get on with it despite Wimbledon seedings giving him tough draw

Rafael Nadal insists he respects Wimbledon's seeding rules even though they have left him with a tough draw at this year's tournament.

The All England Club base their seedings on recent results on grass while the remaining grand slams go by rankings.

It has left Nadal, the world number two, seeded third and likely to have to beat Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic if he is to lift the title.

The Spaniard says the rules are not fair, but is willing to abide by them.

He said: "I respect the Wimbledon rules. Another thing is if I believe that is fair or not, that's another story. I really personally believe it is not.

"It is not only about grass. The season is not only on grass. All the players work so hard to be where they are, then arrive here, they see a possibility to be in a tougher draw because of that.

"But I really respect the tournament so much. I really respect the history of this event.

"I really understand that they see the sport from another perspective. They want to do it by their own rules.

"I come here to play tennis. For me the goal is the same always, it doesn't matter if I'm second or third.

"Of course, it can create an impact in the rankings at the end of the year, for example for Sascha (Alexander Zverev), for Dominic (Thiem)."

Nadal is likely to have a semi-final date with Federer, who is the man to be seeded number two.

The Swiss, who always has a strong grass-court campaign, does not take the same stance as his rival.

"At the end of the day, if you want to win the tournament, you've got to go through all the players that are in front of you," he said.

"We knew that the system was in place. I guess the system rewards you for playing a lot on the grass, well on grass.

"I guess I benefited from that. That was not part of my plan the last few years. It just happens that this year I get bumped up.

"Back in the day, it was tougher. Guys who were seeded became unseeded. So that was a bigger storyline I think than this one.

"It just happens that Rafa obviously went down, so I think that makes the news."

If Nadal is to get as far as a possible last-four date with Federer, he will have already had to navigate an incredibly tough route.

His foe Nick Kyrgios, who recently labelled him "super salty" following a match in Acapulco, could be waiting in round two while Marin Cilic is a potential fourth-round opponent and French Open runner-up Dominic Thiem may be in the quarter-finals.

Nadal notoriously finds the transition from clay to grass difficult as he struggles with his knees and lost two exhibition matches at the Hurlingham Club this week – against Cilic and Lucas Pouille.

However, he is confident of being ready for his first-round tie with Yuichi Sugita.

"I feel ready to practice this afternoon and to practice tomorrow. That's my goal," he said.

"It's day-by-day, step-by-step. I have been improving every single day since I arrived here.

"I hope to be ready, being honest. I think I see the normal evolution.

"Is normal that after when I played in Hurlingham I didn't play bad, just played against players that have been playing on grass for many matches.

"That's it. I played against two good players. I play against Sugita the first round. That's the main thing for me, the main preparation for me. Then we can talk about that if I am able to win that match."