Rafael Nadal will aim to clinch the trophy at the Nitto ATP finals for the first time ever when he starts his campaign on Sunday in London.
Nadal has qualified for this competition in each of the last 15 seasons, but despite numerous opportunities to finish the season with the trophy in his hands, it is his competitive intensity that has deprived him.
The world No. 2’s challenges at the season-ending tournament have been based on the timing of the finals, his records heading into it and his sheer physicality over the years.
The Spaniard has earned himself a reputation in the world game as the most intense player on a tennis court. The level of intensity in his service and all-round play makes the left-handed Mallorca native a difficult customer for any opponent.
It, however, is the extent to which he takes his game physically that increases his proneness to injury and accumulated fatigue at this time of the season.
Amid an appendix surgery curtailing his presence in previous campaigns in London, he has also been plagued by wrist, ankle, and knee injuries, all of which have either forced him to withdraw prematurely from games or forfeit the tournament altogether.
Nadal’s injury record has had a strong impact on this competition. However, it takes nothing away from his fine reputation as a world-class player or serial Grand Slam winner. It is rather a matter of what has come to be his nature and in most cases, bad luck with injuries. It’s regularly been just one tournament too far.
The outbreak of a global pandemic this year however has ensured that Nadal has had enough time away from the game to rest, train, recharge, and reinvigorate his body and then attacked competitions when they’ve happened.
The panache in the event of capturing his 20th Grand Slam title at Roland Garros sends a strong message to fans and rivals around the globe.
His performance against Novak Djokovic in the final was relentless as usual, but he clearly took it to a new level. The Serbian’s fan base will be hopeful mentality is not affected if the duo are drawn against one another again in London.
Nadal is certainly not as concerned as Djokovic about statistics as he oftentimes plays down its significance, but it doesn’t rule out the fact that he’s well aware of them.
Having recently secured his 1000th ATP tour win and broken a record for the most consecutive weeks in the Top 10 ATP Rankings previously held by Jimmy Connor, adding the ATP finals trophy, which has eluded him for so long will clearly feed his competitive nature.
Having played four “helpful” matches at the Rolex Paris Masters, he arrives in London fully fit his year. Even though he did not win the competition, he believes his work in France puts him in good shape for victory in London.
“I need to adjust a couple of things, but I am doing well on all the important things,” Nadal said after his semi-final loss. “I have one week and a little bit more to keep working, and I hope be ready for it.”
Nadal has been drawn alongside Dominic Them, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Andrey Rublev in Group London 2020. He must defeat all three to guaranty automatic promotion out of the round-robin stage.
ATP Finals – Full Singles Draw
| Group Tokyo 1970 | Group London 2020 |
| Novak Djokovic | Rafael Nadal |
| Daniil Medvedev | Dominic Thiem |
| Alexander Zverev | Stefanos Tsitsipas |
| Diego Swartzman | Andrey Rublev |
The tournament serves off on Sunday, November 15th with Group London 2020’s Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas set to face off.
This year’s season-ending finale – set to be played without spectators according to Covid-19 protocols – will be held at the O2 Arena in London for the 12th and final time, before moving to the Pala Alpitour Stadium in Turin next year.
The loss of ticket revenue has led to prize money being reduced. Total compensation has also been slashed from $9 million last year, to $5.7 million.
The singles champion will take home $1,564,000.
Nadal is so passionate