Nadal on Djokovic: He Can’t Improve Much

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Nadal on Djokovic: He Can’t Improve Much

Rafael Nadal’s 2015 finished with another loss to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic—Nadal lost all nine sets he played against the Serb this season—but the Spaniard isn’t beating himself up over his latest beating at the hands of the juggernaut.

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In fact, Nadal is quite sanguine after a late surge that saw him reclaim his spot in the ATP’s top-5 while also asserting his dominion over many of the ATP’s elite. Nadal won back-to-back matches against the top-5 in London for the first time all season, and while he could not get past Djokovic in Saturday’s semifinal, the World No. 5 is comfortable with the notion that the result is just another step in what he believes will be his long road back to the top of the ATP food chain.

In Djokovic, Nadal sees a player that can’t play much better, but in himself the Spaniard sees plenty of places where his game could still be bolstered.

“2016 going to be a new year,” Nadal said on Saturday in London. “Hopefully better one for me. We'll see.”

Nadal’s logic is based on historical perspective. He’s learned from experience during his time at the top of the ATP mountain. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.

“Novak for the moment is almost unbeatable,” Nadal admitted, before laying out his deeper thoughts. “As I say before, the only thing you can do is congratulate him. But things are like this today. You never know what's going on in the future.”

Rather than become frustrated by Djokovic’s domination over him in 2015, Nadal sees it as motivation. He failed the tests in 2015, but always there are more examinations to be had.

“You know, very few moments in my career I get frustrated,” he said. “When one player is better than you, the only thing you can do is try to find solution. So just accept that the opponent is better than me today and keep working hard to try to reduce that difference. … Because he cannot improve much, I think I could improve a lot, so I reduce a little bit the distance. Not with Novak, but with the rest of the top guys. I was able to compete with everybody. That's a big improvement for me.”

So what’s the next step for the 29-year-old 14-time major champion? Not too much needs to change, says Nadal.

“My next step is just keep practicing the way that I am doing. I know I need to keep improving things if I want to have chances against Novak next year. That's what I going to try. Just keep working the way that I am doing. I think I am doing well. Happy about the tournament. Happy about finish the season with that positive energy. Now I have a week off, and that's it.”

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