Nadal slams clay court calendar change

BREMEN, Germany (Reuters) - Spain's Rafael Nadal hit out on Friday at 'outrageous' changes to the ATP Tour calendar with this year's three claycourt Masters Series events crammed into four weeks.

The usual two-week gap between Monte Carlo and Rome has been cut in half this season, a move Nadal blamed on a scheduling issue with the NCAA College Basketball in the United States.

Nadal, the world's outstanding claycourt player, will now compete at Monte Carlo, Rome, Barcelona and Hamburg in successive weeks and he said changing the calendar showed a lack of respect for European players.

"It's an outrageous way to treat European and claycourt players," Nadal said at a news conference after winning the first point for Spain in their Davis Cup quarter-final against Germany in Bremen.

"The truth is the ATP is making our lives almost impossible.

"Moving Miami and Indian Wells back because of college basketball is something I understand because it's very important to them but this is a world tour.

"We only have three Masters Series events and we have to play them with an important tournament like Barcelona all running together.

"I'm tired of complaining about this but the people in charge of this don't share my opinion and I have to respect that."