Rafael Nadal After ATP Tour Final Exit: ‘Don’t Think I Forgot How To Play Tennis’

Rafael Nadal has reacted to two consecutive losses in the ongoing ATP World Tour Finals, saying he has not forgotten “how to play tennis.”

Nadal lost to Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime, both in straight sets, giving a major blow to his chances of ending the year as the World No. 1 ATP player. Nadal was eliminated from the year-end tournament after Casper Ruud won against Fritz.

In a post-match conference, Nadal pointed out a few positive outcomes even though he suffered two back-to-back losses.

“[There are a] couple of positive things. I was able to play in two tournaments in the past three weeks. That’s the positive thing, something that I was not able to do for a while. I don’t think I forgot how to play tennis, how to be strong enough mentally. I just need to recover all these positive feelings and all this confidence and all this strong mentality that I need to be at the level that I want to be,” Nadal told reporters Tuesday.

“I don’t know if I going to reach that level again. But what I don’t have any doubt is that I [am] going to die for it,” World No. 2 added.

Nadal, who has never won the prestigious year-end tournament, struggled against Fritz’s serve in his opening game of the ATP Tour Finals and he admitted that he found it tough to return against Canada’s Auger-Aliassime.

“I will fight until the end, but when things are going that way, is difficult to change the dynamic and the result, especially under these circumstances. With this surface, playing against big servers, great players, [I have] nothing to complain about, I just have to accept that it’s what we have today. The opponent playing the key points better,” Nadal explained.

With Nadal out of ATP Tour Finals, 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz will become the youngest year-end No 1 since the ATP rankings began in 1973.

Alcaraz, who is not competing in the ATP World Tour Finals, picked up an abdominal injury during Paris Masters earlier this month.