Tennis-Grass provides perfect tonic for Nadal's wounded pride

By Pritha Sarkar LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) - The grass has never been greener for Rafa Nadal. Whereas once it used to be the claycourts of Europe that turned him into an unbeatable force, the Spaniard has turned to the lush green surface to heal his wounded pride. He failed to win a title on his beloved clay in Europe this year and was dethroned as French Open champion in a triple whammy that could have floored Nadal for the rest of the season. But the nine-times French Open champion dusted off the red dirt from his creaking knees and he won the Stuttgart title on grass on Sunday. "The first 3-1/2 months of the season have been terrible for me, very bad, playing very bad almost every week," Nadal told reporters at Queen's Club, where he will continue his preparations for Wimbledon, on Monday. "I was not enjoying (being) on court. But now the most important thing is that I am enjoying (being) on court again. Grass is a surface that I really like a lot." His defeat at Roland Garros by Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals was only his second loss in 72 matches at the claycourt major. While losing his crown hurt, Nadal was boosted by the fact that his body was holding up better than it did the last time he lost in Paris. In 2009, his fourth-round defeat by Robin Soderling left him off court for several months as he battled tendinitis in his knees. This time, however, his body is in good shape and, according to Nadal, that is more important than anything else, including winning a 15th major. "A few times that I couldn't play I had problems with my knees. Today I don't have physical limitation... so that's important," said the 2008 and 2010 Wimbledon champion, who has been plagued with injuries throughout his career. "My main goal is finish the season healthy. Try to have the chance to play the full season. I am confident that... I'm gonna have a much better second half of the season than what I did in the first six months. "Mentally, I feel strong. I have the motivation to be back to my best and I feel... my body is ready for it. "Winning grand slams or not, I won enough in my career. Fourteen are enough. "Today I am the No. 10 in the world and I have only played six months... and more than half of that six months (I played) very badly. If I am able to be No. 10 playing that badly, if I am able to play a little bit better I will be higher." (Editing by Ed Osmond)