Nadal Ready to Make a Drive for the Year-end Title

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 22nd September 2013

Nadal Ready to Make a Drive for the Year-end Title

epa03863221 Spanish Davis Cup Team player Rafael Nadal smiles during the team's training session at Caja Magica pavilion, Madrid, Spain, 11 September 2013. Spain will face Ukrania in the Davis Cup World Group Play-off round this weekend. EPA/JuanJo Martin |

Rafael Nadal has a chance of overtaking Novak Djokovic for the year-end world No. 1 ranking if the Spaniard can keep up his winning ATP pace for another month or two this autumn. With ten trophies already pocketed in 2013 – including another French Open and the US Open – it’s all out there to win for the 27-year-old Spaniard, now second behind his Serb rival but closing fast with only a thin 260-point gap separating the pair.

But the 13-time grand slam winner is not concentrating on anything but resting now and competing later when he steps back onto the court in a fortnight in Beijing, where Djokovic should be waiting. Nadal has already stood atop the rankings twice, in 2008 and 2010.

“This has been one of the best seasons of my career when it comes to results, but I can’t say that this is my best moment ever,” said Nadal after beating Djokovic in the US Open final. “I appreciate that sometimes things go well and at other times they go worse, so I need to enjoy what I have at the moment and work to make sure things keep going well.”

Djokovic has a big task next month in China, where he will be trying to back up both the Beijing and Shanghai titles, which he won a year ago when Nadal was out for eight months with knee injuries. As a result, Nadal can only gain points from now on, putting him in a strong position to surpass his rival.

“When I started the season nobody thought it would turn out the way it has. Not even the most optimistic people”, he said. “I presently have an objective in mind that I thought I would never be able to reach again,” said the loser of only three matches in 2013.

Topics: 10sballs.com, French Open, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Tennis, Tennis News, US Open