"I played well in the first set, but then I lost my concentration," Nadal said, adding that his semifinal loss last week in the Thailand Open hurt his confidence. "The season is long and we compete with a lot of pressure, so it is easy to lose your concentration. That is what happened."

"I'm very motivated," he said. "I know it's going to be hard, but if I have a small opportunity I will take it."

Monfils, who was sidelined between March and May with an injury to his left hand, is ranked 15th in the world. He defeated No. 10-ranked Andy Roddick, the No. 2 seed, to get his place in the semifinals. That win broke an eight-match losing streak against top 10 opponents.

It also avenged a loss the last time he met Stepanek, in Brisbane in January. Monfils lost that match 6-2, 6-1.

"I had a shoulder problem then and I couldn't serve 100 percent," Monfils said. "But I came out today much stronger."

"I am playing better and better," Monfils said. "I change my game every day. Some days I'm defensive, some days I'm aggressive. Some times I'm on the net too much."

While the former vegetarian Federer talked about Zen philosophy, Japanese proverbs, and playing tennis at the Imperial Palace, Nadal says stuff like “I don’t like shopping.”

On his off-day Wednesday, he played a few holes of golf but otherwise hung around the hotel trying to rest from a relentless year of touring which saw him win the French, Wimbledon and U.S. titles.

“Japan is one of the places you definitely want to know and hopefully I will be able to come back. The Japanese people are giving me a lot of presents. I’m just enjoying these days, on this very nice center court atmosphere,” he says.

"It's difficult to change strategy in two days, but you can see how I was playing in Bangkok," he said. "If you see how I lost that match, it's difficult to say I have to change something. The only thing was maybe to play a little bit more aggressive.

"Every time when you arrive at a tournament you need time to adapt, and I've only had one day. I hope to be ready for tomorrow. It's important to be focused tomorrow, because Giraldo is a very good player and very dangerous."

"I want to see Japan and Argentina after I have some dinner and rest," this year's triple grand slam winner said.

"I have some friends on the Argentina team. It will be an honour to see them and watch two good teams play.

"I still have lots of work to win this tournament but it would be very positive for me and a big boost for the rest of the season," added Nadal, making his debut in Japan.

“I played a good match, but he also made more mistakes after losing the first set,” assessed Nadal. “It's good for the confidence to keep winning after taking an important title like the US Open. When I go on court and I see a full stadium like here today, it is very nice. It is good for everyone.”

The sumo grand champion of annual wrestling matches, Hakuhou, was invited to the Ariake Colloseum - the venue of the Rakuten open tournament and he watched the match of Rafael Nadal, world #1.
He was invited by the Mongol tennis association. He performed the coin toss and had a handshake with Nadal.
In a meeting with the career grand slam champion and toast of this season, Hakuhou said "He is like the sumo grand champion of the tennis world. I have become a Nadal fan. I also won in 4 consecutive tournaments and having a series of victories. I want to work towards (doing well in) Kyushu too"