AFP, Los Angeles :
Rafael Nadal says he still has work to do on his game as he gets set to launch his claycourt season which the Spaniard hopes culminates with his ninth French Open title.
World number one Nadal lost in straight sets in the final of the Miami Masters tournament on Sunday to second seed Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 win as he easily dismantled Nadal who has been hampered by a back injury which wrecked his Australian Open bid earlier this year.
Thirteen-time Grand Slam winner Nadal said despite the loss, which dropped him to 0-4 in Miami finals, he feels good about having made it to the final in Miami.
“It is great that I am in the top of the race arriving to the claycourt season,” Nadal said. “But now we start on clay and I need to be 100 percent.
“I need to work hard and try to be in better shape for clay.”
Miami is one of just three ATP Tour Masters 1000 events that Nadal has failed to win.
The Miami final started evenly until Djokovic broke Nadal in the first set to go up 3-2. He took the set when Nadal failed to return a serve.
Djokovic broke to open the second set then broke the Spaniard again in the final game of the match.
Nadal, who has two titles in 2014 in Doha and Rio de Janeiro, blasted two aces and won just 59 percent of his first serve points against Djokovic.
The left-handed Spaniard said he plans to remain in the US for a few days then fly back to Europe and head to Spain where he will train on the clay surface.
