Billie Jean King
IN PHOTO: Tennis great Billie Jean King waves during ceremonies ahead of the women's singles finals match between Serena Williams of the U.S. and Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark at the 2014 U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, September 7, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Segar REUTERS/Mike Segar

Tennis legend Billie Jean King has some advice on how Rafael Nadal can regain his confidence back. According to King, Nadal should be able to overcome his loss of confidence in himself and eventually lift his self-esteem by fixing his mental attitude.

“I would try to get him (Nadal) thinking differently,” King was quoted saying in an article by USA Today Sports. “He keeps telling himself ‘I don’t have,’ I would keep trying to say what you have.”

King said that overcoming a lack of self-confidence would take time and if Nadal wants to get back to his old winning form, he has to work and maintain his new mindset for a quite a period of time. She said it will take at least six months for Nadal to regain confidence.

King, a former World No. 1 who won 67 singles titles in her decorative tennis career, said that Nadal has been playing better tennis that before. She added that the Mallorca native is just not aware of it.

The 14-time grand slam champion admitted in an interview back in March following his third round loss to compatriot Fernando Verdasco at the Miami Open that he doesn’t have much confidence going into his matches, which greatly affected the results of his matches.

Nadal has had a poor start this season since battling injuries and health problems that made him miss the remainder of the 2014 season. He was forced to withdraw from the US Open due to a right wrist injury. He also had to pull out of the season-ending tournament at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals because he had to undergo laparoscopic appendectomy. He dropped from his season-ending third rank in 2014 to seventh place this season. However, Nadal has also had better results this year, which includes a title won at the Argentina Open and a final appearance at the Madrid Open.

Since turning professional in 2001, Nadal boasts 65 singles titles. He is tied with American tennis legend Pete Sampras with 14 major titles. Nadal also won 27 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles. This season, Nadal has a 29-10 win loss record.

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