Rafael Nadal Says He is Thinking About His Game, Not Novak Djokovic

Written by: Staff on 19th November 2011

Rafael Nadal Says He is Thinking About His Game, Not Novak Djokovic

Rafael Nadal of Spain returns the ball to Andy Murray of Great Britain during their semi final match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tennis tournament in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, 16 April 2011. EPA/CHRISTOPHE KARABA |

Rafael Nadal has lost every one of his six matches against Novak Djokovic this year, all of them in finals, and lost the world no.1 ranking to the Serb. At Wimbledon Nadal gave a long soliloquy on how Djokovic psychologically undermined his confidence but on the eve of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals the Spaniard adopted a different point of view.

Nadal positively railed at suggestions he is more preoccupied with Djokovic than his own game. “I am not working every day thinking about Novak, I am thinking about what I need to do to be a better player,” said the world no.2 who will return to action after a month long rest in the tournament’s second match against Mardy Fish tomorrow (Sunday).

“I know it will be very difficult for him to repeat his level of tennis. All my life I worked for myself, to improve myself, that is my focus.”

Nadal also maintained losing the no.1 ranking wasn’t exactly the most painful experience of 2011 for him. “How much did it hurt?” he said. “Not much. It hurt much more to lose the Wimbledon title, the finals of Madrid, Rome, but especially Wimbledon, that hurts much more than losing no.1.

“I have been no.1 at the end of the season for three years and what makes me happy is to be competitive against everybody.”

A year ago Nadal was runner up in this event to Roger Federer after winning a classic semi-final against Andy Murray. But he concedes his three rivals in the world’s elite have games more conducive to indoor conditions.

Nadal summarized: “Roger has been winning, Andy had a very good run in Asia and lost a tough match to Berdych last week in Paris while Novak must still have unbelievable confidence after the season he has had, And the indoor court is good to them.”

Therefore many would not be too surprised if he puts more importance on the upcoming Davis Cup final against Argentina to be played outdoors on clay in Spanish territory in Seville.

“No, I do not have more motivation for one than the other,” he said referring to his two remaining competitive outings for the year. “I have full motivation for this tournament here in London.”

“DAILY TENNIS NEWS WIRE”

Topics: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal