Rafa Nadal will end 2015 without at least an ATP Masters 1000 or a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2005. In a season of ups and downs the Spanish legend has won just three titles in Buenos Aires, Stuttgart and Hamburg. At Masters 1000 Nadal reached the final in Madrid where he lost to Andy Murray.
Nadal won his first Masters 1000 title in 2005 in Monte-Carlo, his favourite clay tournament where he triumphed nine times. Since then he has won a record 27 Masters 1000 tournaments and reached 41 finals and a joint record 56 semifinals. He is the only player to have won one or more Masters 1000 titles for ten consecutive years. He is one of just three players along with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to have reached the final in all nine current Masters 1000 at least once.
in this year’s Grand Slam Nadal lost in the quarter finals to Tomas Berdych at the Australian Open. Last June Novak Djokovic beat Nadal in the quarter finals at the Roland Garros ending the Spaniard’s winning streak of 39 consecutive wins in Paris since his defeat against Robin Soderling in 2009.
At Wimbledon he lost against German Dustin Brown in the second round. At Flushing Meadows in New York Nadal was knocked out in the third round against Fabio Fognini, who recovered from two sets down to win in five sets. This defeat ended Nadal’s 10-year streak of winning at least one Grand Slam each season.
Nadal has played well during the autumn season when he finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic in Beijing (losing the final 6-2 6-2) and to Roger Federer in Basel (losing the final 6-3 5-7 6-3).
“I played well in Basel. I finished the tournament feeling good. I am just happy about the last three weeks playing two finals and one semifinal. Both matches I lost were in three sets. I am competing well against very good players. I am happy about the way that I am practicing”, said Nadal in Paris Bercy.
He also reached the semifinal in the Shanghai Masters 1000 where he lost to Jo Wilfried Tsonga and the quarter finals in Paris Bercy where he lost against Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (9-7) after a 2-hour and 20-minute match which finished at 1.10 am.
“I had a lot of opportunities but I didn’t take them. I missed too many set points. In a tight match like that it’s too much. But I am happy with these last few weeks. I am on the right track”, said Nadal after the quarter final against Wawrinka in the French capital