By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, November 8, 2019
"I have good hopes to be 100 percent ready for Monday," said world No. 1 Rafael Nadal ahead of the ATP Finals in London.
Photo credit: ATP Tour Facebook
Avid fisherman Rafael Nadal took the boat ride on the River Thames to reach the O2 Arena today.
The 33-year-old Spaniard says sealing the year-end world No. 1 ranking for the fifth time won't be smooth sailing, but he's optimistic he will be fit for his opening match of the Nitto ATP Finals on Monday.
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Nadal, who withdrew from the Rolex Paris Masters semifinals with a strained abdominal last Saturday, said he has "good hopes to be 100 percent ready" when he opens round-robin play against reigning champion Alexander Zverev in the Andre Agassi group on Monday.
"I'm happy to be here because after last Saturday in Paris I didn't know if I would have the chance to be here," Nadal told the media in London. "So I'm excited to be here after a couple of years without being able to play. I need to see how things evolve every single day. I have good hopes to be 100 percent ready for Monday."
Nadal is bidding to make history as the oldest year-end world No. 1.
The US Open champion surpassed Novak Djokovic to regain the top spot on Monday. Nadal leads Djokovic by 640 ranking points and will need to go deep at the season-ending event he has yet to win.
Five-time Nitto ATP Finals champion Djokovic has been a better indoor player than Nadal.
The 32-year-old Serbian boasts a .787 career winning percentage and 13 titles indoors, while Nadal has a .689 career winning percentage with two titles playing beneath the closed roof.
The 12-time Roland Garros champion resides in the same group as Zverev and ATP Finals debutants Daniil Medvedev, whom Nadal out-dueled in five sets in the US Open final, and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Meanwhile, Djokovic, empowered by winning his fifth Paris Masters crown on Sunday, is in the Bjorn Borg group along with six-time ATP Finals champion Roger Federer, Dominic Thiem, who beat Djokovic at Roland Garros and US Open semifinalist Matteo Berrettini.
The strained abdominal muscle has bothered Nadal stretching up and out on his serve, however he said he's been serving slowly in practice and has felt comfortable so far.
"I started serving yesterday very slow," Nadal told the media in London. "I know I have been playing well in Paris and for me the main goal is to be healthy for Monday.
A sharp serve has been a key component to Nadal's surge back to the top spot.
Since bowing to Federer in the Wimbledon semifinals in July, Nadal has won all 14 matches he's played dropping just four sets in that span.
"I have been serving very well in Bercy," Nadal said. "I had good matches, so I am confident that I can be very competitive but of course it's a tournament that you will face the top guys from the beginning so you need to be 100 percent ready.
"But I really hope I will be able to serve every single day a little better and my hope is to be on Sunday serving normal."
Traditionally, the season-ending finale has been the time for Djokovic and Federer to rise. The pair have combined to capture nine of the last 13 Nitto ATP Finals championship with only Nikolay Davydenko (2009), Andy Murray (2016), Grigor Dimitrov (2017) and Zverev breaking their their stronghold on raising the title trophy.
Nineteen-time Grand Slam champion Nadal will make his 15th appearance at season-ending event—second-most behind Federer, who will play the ATP Finals for the 17th time—and is playing to reach his first ATP Finals title match since bowing to Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 in the 2013 final at the O2 Arena.