Rafael Nadal says his focus heading into Wimbledon was on his fitness, not the thoughts of the media.
After winning the French Open on clay, Nadal decided not to travel to the Fever-Tree Championships at Queen's Club ahead of Wimbledon, keen to look after his knees.
It worked well for the Spaniard as he breezed past Dudi Sela in straight sets in SW19 and, questioned afterwards on why he had been absent from pre-Wimbledon tournaments, Nadal was bemused.
He told a news conference: "If I play too much, then I come here, all the questions are: Why are you not playing less? Now I play less and the question is: Why are you not playing?
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"I am just joking. I don't do my calendar thinking about what you asking, I was just making a joke.
"I had a long clay court season, a lot of matches. As you know, I have had lot of problems in terms of physical injuries during my career.
The first step to an 18th Grand Slam title…@RafaelNadal is through to the second round of #Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Dudi Sela pic.twitter.com/2OiHXNxSaO
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 3, 2018
"Of course, I would love to play at Queen's. That was my schedule, my agenda. But after playing the final of Roland Garros and playing so many matches on clay, for my knees, the drastic changes are not good.
"We decided to stop couple of days, then to start step by step on grass.
"I did the same last year. It worked well. I lost here in the fourth round, but I felt I was in a position to fight for important things.
"I repeat: for me, the most important thing is being healthy. That's the priority always."