Rafael Nadal full of confidence ahead of French Open

Seeking to continue his dominance of the French Open, nine-time winner Rafael Nadal is feeling confident ahead of the defence of his title at Roland Garros.

The Spaniard has lifted the trophy in nine of the last 10 years, with the only exception coming when he suffered a fourth-round defeat to Robin Soderling in 2009.

However, Nadal comes into this year's tournament as the sixth seed, meaning he is on course for a quarter-final meeting with world number one Novak Djokovic.

But Nadal, now ranked seventh in the world, feels he is reaching his peak following a defeat to Andy Murray at the Madrid Open earlier this month.

"The confidence arrives when you play well a lot of days in row," he said.

"I think since Madrid I am playing well almost every day, then up until the competition I hope to be ready for it.

"You never know what can happen. I am going to keep trying my best in practice and then when the tournament starts I will try my very best in every point to play well and to try to be ready.

"I would love to play in the quarter-finals. It will be great news that I already win four matches."