2015 in the past, Nadal is focussed on the new year

Rafael Nadal was not in his best mood yesterday. He had lost his first match of the new season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, albeit in doubles, and the constant questioning of his 2015 season made it even worse.The 14-time Grand Slam champion just won three ATP titles last year, struggling to find his feet after returning from injury. For the first time since 2004, when he was just 18, the Spaniard failed to reach semifinals of a major or the final of a Masters event. He also dropped out of the top five for the first time since 2005.So it’s obvious, Nadal is looking forward to 2016 for resurgence. But the question is will the Mallorcan get back to his best, even as he turns 30 this June. In the past, he has always followed a slide with a strong comeback and that has seen him get back to No 1.But 2015 was different, where he struggled with confidence and his ferocious forehand, failed to hold up after a wrist injury that forced him out of action in 2014. He even lost a two-set lead at a major for the first time at the US Open.So it’s quite understandable, Nadal wants to move on from those not-so-fond memories of 2015. “Seriously, I’m a little bit tired of talking every day about 2015. We are in 2016 already, no? We talked enough about 2015, and I talked enough about all the things that happened,” Nadal snapped back to reporters in Doha, having given enough explanation of his downturn.“I have been very honest in all the press conferences, without lying or not saying things that really happened to me. I have been very open about talking all the things that were going on during the year. But we are in 2016, and 2015 is past. In 2014 when I was here, after winning a lot in 2013, I was not talking a lot about 2013. The real thing is all the victories in the past we are not talking about (them) and we are not talking about all the defeats of last year, because that’s past. What really is important is what’s going to happen tomorrow. That is I am playing my first (singles) match of the year, and I am motivated for that,” the Spaniard hit back.Nadal sees things improving for him this season. He had saved his best for last in 2015, when he reached two semi-finals and finals after the third round exit from the US open and his contemporaries expect him to bounce back strongly.“It is obvious that I feel more confident this year but anything can happen. This is sport. Last year I played a great set here in the first round and I lost. But I was playing good, no?,” Nadal said of his last year’s first round exit in Doha.“And then not having an easy year, I managed it well because I finished in a very high position in the rankings. And especially I finished it playing well, no? This year is another year. It’s true I’m not coming back from injuries, and I feel that I worked a lot to be ready to begin this one, and I feel I am. I played well in Abu Dhabi last week. I am practising well. We start these two days with that wind, but I feel myself ready for this season. The expectations are the normal ones, positive ones, because I feel that I finished the past season playing well and I feel that I am playing well again. We’ll see,” he explained.So is there any one goal for the new year? “You never will hear from me talking about one particular goal, because at the end of the day in tennis, we have tournaments every week, and everybody knows what they want to achieve and everybody knows what are the things that I want to do. But my motivation is Doha now and then it’s going to be Melbourne. That’s it. I cannot think farther than that,” Nadal said.Players tend to evolve as they get older and spend lot of time playing a sport. The World No 5 said he too was working on mental and physical aspects of the game during off season.“All my life I worked with the highest intensity possible, but we worked a little bit differently (this time). We tried to find different positions on court, to play more on the inside and worked a lot on the return too,” Nadal went on.“The way that I approach the game is what I worked on too, things that are needed to be a better player. That’s the only thing. We analysed what happened last year a little bit, and in tennis the mental part is another story. But in terms of tennis we analysed what we need to do to be very competitive this year,” Nadal said.Nadal is a 2008 Olympic tennis gold medallist, but missed the London 2012 Olympics for health reasons. Despite the Rio Olympics being played this year, Nadal said he wouldn’t approach the year any differently.  “The fact this is an Olympic year really doesn’t change anything. When the Olympics arrive, we are going to be ready for it. The motivation to play Olympics will be amazing, but for the moment, I am focused on Qatar now,” said Nadal, who will open his singles campaign against countryman Pablo Carreno Busta today.