Rafael Nadal (R) and India’s Leander Paes arrive on court for their doubles match against Britain’s Dominic Inglot and Sweden’s Robert Lindstedt at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 indoor tennis tournament in Paris yesterday.
Reuters/Paris
For all his renowned mental strength it was psychological exhaustion that made Rafa Nadal consider skipping the season-ending ATP World Tour finals this year, the 14-times grand slam champion said yesterday.
Nadal struggled for form all year and failed to win a major for the first time since his maiden French Open title in 2005, dropping out of the top five in the ATP rankings for the first time in 10 years.
But his participation in the World Tour finals in London this month was never in doubt ranking-wise.
“I thought I would qualify. I always believed that I was going to be in the top eight at the end of the season, but always with the respect (for other players),” Nadal told a news conference ahead of this week’s Paris Masters.
“I am humble enough to say, Okay, if I keep playing bad, I’m probably gonna be in trouble. But I had the feeling in some moments I would be playing better.
“I believe my level is to be there in the top eight even if I had tough moments this year.”
Nadal was knocked out in the Australian Open quarter-finals before suffering only his second defeat at Roland Garros when he lost to Novak DJokovic in the last eight of the French Open.
It was followed by a second-round exit at Wimbledon and a third-round defeat at the U.S. Open.
Asked if he considered not going to London for the World Tour finals because of physical or mental problems, Nadal replied: “Not physical, no. Mental.
“I was not enjoying myself on court and not feeling competitive, so then in the most difficult tournament of the year, in the toughest surface for me of the year, it probably would not have made sense to play.”
The Spaniard is sixth in the ATP rankings and lies fifth in the Race to London, having secured his qualification for the Nov. 15-22 event.
He will start his Paris Masters campaign today with a second-round match against Czech qualifier Lukas Rosol or fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
Meanwhile, Stan Wawrinka started his Paris Masters challenge with a 6-3 7-6(6) win over Australian Bernard Tomic after surviving a blip in the tiebreak to reach the third round on Tuesday.
The world number four from Switzerland trailed 5-2 in the tiebreak but raised his game to close out the match in straight sets at a renovated Bercy Hall.
“I was not in a good position, that’s for sure,” Wawrinka, who is bidding to become the first player to win the French Open and the Paris Masters in the same year since Andre Agassi in 1999, told a news conference.
“I played one good point, aggressive, then he missed an easy forehand, and you’re back.”
Wawrinka next faces either Spanish 15th seed Feliciano Lopez or Serbian Viktor Troicki.
Spanish eighth seed David Ferrer also advanced to the third round when he swept aside Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-2 6-2.
The Paris Masters is the last tournament before the season-ending ATP World Tour finals, which will be played between the eight best players of the season from Nov. 15-22 at the O2 in London.
Djokovic, Wawrinka, Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Kei Nishikori, Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych and Ferrer have all qualified.
Williams edges Keysin Zhuhai opener
Top seed Venus Williams opened the inaugural WTA Elite Trophy in southern China with a tight three-sets win over fellow American Madison Keys on Tuesday.
The seven-time Grand Slam-winner came from a set down to win 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 as she seeks to end her season with a 48th career title.
The Elite Trophy, which follows last week’s WTA Finals for the top eight women, is a new event featuring the players ranked nine-20 and held at a purpose-built facility in Zhuhai, which borders gambling haven Macau.
