Rafael Nadal is convinced  his decision not to take a break after winning the French Open will pay off as he tries to extend his dominance over Roger Federer to Wimbledon.

Nadal is showing no signs of feeling the strain of a grulling schedule that saw him begin his challenge at Queen's just three days after winning in Paris.

The world No 2 triumphed on the clay of Roland Garros for the third consecutive year, so he could have been forgiven for taking a well-earned rest this week.

Instead he came straight to London and didn't take long to adapt to the grass courts as he brushed aside Argentine teenager Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-4 to set up a third round match with Max Mirnyi.

Nadal's decision to play on contrasted with Federer's withdrawal from this week's tournament in Halle. The Swiss insists he has a groin injury, but it is likely the psychological blow of losing to Nadal again was also a factor.

The Spaniard didn't disagree with that assessment of Federer's state of mind and said: "I am playing here and I know if I lose it is not the same as if Roger loses in Halle.

"If I lose in the second round in Barcelona the loss affects me more than if I lose here because I am expected to do well there. There is not much pressure for me (here).

"At Halle there is a lot of pressure on him to win the title and it is very difficult to play a week after a Grand Slam. It is two weeks with a lot of pressure and concentration every day. It is tough, especially when you lose.

"Roger knows how he feels. If he is not playing Halle it is because he thinks his best preparation is not to play for one week. He wants to go to Wimbledon with his best mentality." 

Nadal's determination to keep playing is fuelled by the knowledge that he needs more experience on grass if he is to improve on last year's final defeat to Federer at the All-England club.

He acknowledged tiredness had been a factor during his doubles defeat on Tuesday but is adamant he is now back to his peak condition.

"I have played one final at Wimbledon, but Roger has two finals of Roland Garros, one semifinal there, four titles in Hamburg and has won in Monte Carlo and been to the final in Rome," Nadal said.

"He is an unbelievable player on clay as well but I don't know if I am a very good player on grass yet. I just want to play well and try to adapt as fast as possible to the grass.

"If I am playing many matches that is good because I will have more hours on court before Wimbledon.

"It is always tough to play your first match on grass. After a few games I started returning so much better. There were a few mistakes but that is normal on grass.

"I feel so much better today than in the last two days. Yesterday I was terrible in the doubles. I was very tired. I wanted to move but I couldn't do anything.

"Today I woke up in the morning feeling better. I even went to breakfast before the coach got there for the first time in my life."

(China Daily via Agencies June 15, 2007)