Nadal eager to end year in top spot

Rafael Nadal has set his sights on ending 2008 in the world number one spot he claimed on Monday from Roger Federer.

Swiss ace Federer had held top spot in the sport for a record 237 consecutive weeks, with Nadal spending 160 weeks in second.

However, following a stunning 2008 in which Nadal has won eight ATP singles titles, including the French Open and Wimbledon, plus gold at the Olympic Games, the 22-year-old Spaniard has became the top-ranked player for the first time in his career.

Nadal is now turning his focus to doing well at the upcoming US Open, where he believes a good performance will go a long way to helping him fulfil his goal of finishing the year in top spot.

"I want to be number one at the end of the year and I am aware that a good result at the US open will mathematically give me this option," said Nadal in Marca.

"I don't think I have more pressure on me than before when I was fighting to maintain second place. It will be something similar.

"I continue wanting to win titles as before. I will probably be second again in a few months and that's not a problem either."

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