Beijing: The new king of tennis, Rafael Nadal was at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre early on Saturday, engrossed in practice with world No. 8 James Blake.

In navy blue sleeveless tee and white bermudas, the soon-to-be-named world No. 1 geared up for his opener against Potito Starace of Italy. The Spaniard, however, kicks off his Beijing campaign with a doubles match with partner Tommy Robredo on Sunday.

After a good hour-and-a-half of practice, Nadal fielded questions from the media.

The following are excerpts:

Q Why have the top three seeded players been historically unlucky at the Games?

A: If you look at all tournaments, you will find that there are not many top and second seeded players in the finals. One can lose any match on any given day. It is certainly not specific to an Olympics.

You are the next world No. 1. How did you celebrate?

Celebrate? Where’s the time to celebrate?

Do you think yours will be a nice long reign? Or do you expect frequent changes back and forth?

My focus now is on the Olympics, followed by the US Open. I shall take one thing at a time. My concentration is not on my rankings.

How was the experience at the opening ceremony?

It was an emotional moment, to be with one’s countrymen, and with thousands of other athletes of the world. It was a little tiring as we had to wait a long while for the march past, a little disappointing too, as we had to wait outside and couldn’t witness much of the ceremony.

How different is an Olympics from a Grand Slam?

Completely different. An Olympic comes once every four years. I’m young and I hope to be there in London 2012, but then one can never be absolutely certain, can one? Also, representing one’s country is very special to me.

If he had the chance, which event would you watch here?

Basketball.