Nadal eyes Australian Open despite Chennai thrashing

By N.Ananthanarayan

CHENNAI, India (Reuters) - Rafael Nadal was confident he would recover for the Australian Open despite being thrashed by Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the Chennai Open final on Sunday.

The Spanish world number two lost 6-0 6-1 to the Russian fourth seed after looking clearly exhausted following Saturday's marathon four-hour semi-final win over compatriot Carlos Moya.

"I'm not the one who puts any excuses on defeat," he told reporters. "I could do nothing today, so I lost. I needed more time for recovery."

Nadal looked forward to the grand slam in Melbourne starting on January 14.

"I have one week to go for the Australian Open and I'll do my best to win," he said.

"I had no physical problem today, but I was feeling very tired," he said. "That is the reason I called the trainer.

"I've started my season playing very well and I'm confident," he said. "I hope I'll have a very good tournament."

The 21-year-old French Open champion praised Youzhny, saying the Russian number two gave him little chance for a comeback.