Rafael Nadal's Health More Important Than World No. 1 Ranking: Carlos Moya

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal is focused on remaining healthy rather than retaining his spot at the top of the rankings according to his coach Carlos Moya.

Nadal is currently taking part in the Barcelona Open as he won his opening game against fellow compatriot Roberto Carballes Baena on Wednesday.

It is just his second competitive tournament since returning from a leg injury at the Australian Open in January as the Spaniard successfully retained his Monte-Carlo Masters title last Sunday, beating Kei Nishikori in the final.

In order to keep his place at the top of the rankings and maintain his 100-point lead over Roger Federer, Nadal has to retain his titles in Barcelona, the Madrid Open and the French Open while he can also add to his points tally if he goes further than the quarterfinals in the Rome Masters.

However, while the idea for him is to remain No. 1, Moya states that after Nadal's recent injury nightmare spanning back to late 2017, his health is more important, adding he will remain at the top of the rankings as long as he is healthy.

"For us, right now, this [world No. 1] is secondary," Moya told El Confidencial, as per the Express. "The idea is to keep the No 1. That circumstance occurs [if he wins in Barcelona] but is not quite the same in Rome as he has room to add [points]."

"If he does well in Rome, I can see him staying No 1. And if he keeps playing like that, I think so too. In any case, the No 1 is a consequence of the day to day, of training and playing well, of being healthy, of resting. We give much more importance to that."

"We know that if all this is done well, the No 1 ranking will be a consequence of that day to day. Now we are worried about Barcelona. We will go week to week because we know that [the French Open in] Paris is on the horizon."

Nadal will look to add to his Grand Slam tally with a record 11th French Open crown when it takes place on May 28 and according to Moya, he is already ready for it as he will be defending 2,000 points in Paris.

"If Roland Garros was next week, it would be perfect for us," Moya added. "We are not afraid of that. We know that there are tournaments during this time and we are going to face them all with enthusiasm."

However, the focus for now is on Barcelona where Nadal faces another Spaniard in Guillermo Garcia-Lopez when they meet in their round of 16 clash on Thursday. Garcia-Lopez notably defeated Nishikori in the previous round after the Japanese star retired after losing the first set.

Meanwhile Novak Djokovic suffered an opening round defeat in Barcelona as he lost to Slovakia's Martin Klizan on Wednesday. Klizan will face Spain's Feliciano Lopez next.