Rafael Nadal has assured he is fully fit after taking a medical time out during his third round match at the Rolex paris Masters.
The world No.1 required almost two-and-a-half hours to defeat Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, at the final Masters event of the year. After dropping the second set, where he experienced occasional blips in his movement, he asked the trainer to strap his knee. Triggering fears that the issue could have an impact on his bid at the upcoming ATP Finals in London.
Recently Nadal withdrew from the Swiss Indoors in Basel after suffering ‘over-stressing of the knee.’ Throughout his career, the 31-year-old has suffered problems with his knees, as well as the wrist. Despite the setback, he has insisted that he is in a good shape and intends to to go to the Nitto ATP Finals, which features the eight best players in the world.
“Well, of course, (I’m) 100 percent okay,” Nadal told reporters.
“Of course, I going to be playing in London normally, if nothing happens. It depends (on the next) one week and a half. Anything can happen in one week and a half.
“But if nothing strange happens then I’m going to be there, of course.”
Reluctant to speak about his knee during his press conference, Nadal is aiming to win his seventh title of the season in Paris and a record 31st Masters 1000 title. Regardless of how he performs, the Spaniard already secured the year-end No.1 ranking position on Wednesday for the fourth time in his career.
“It’s not the moment to talk much about the knee,” he stated.
“It’s more the moment about talking about the quarter-finals. I won an important match for me.
“Tomorrow (is) another chance against a player that’s playing very well. So let’s see.”
In the quarter-finals Nadal will take on Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic in what will be their first meeting. 25-year-old Krajinovic is playing in the last eight of a Masters 1000 event for the first time in his career.
“It’s always hard playing someone for the first time, but I will do my best,” the top seed said about his upcoming clash in Paris.
The winner of that match will take on either Juan Martin del Potro or John Isner. Former US Open champion del Potro is required to win his quarter-final in order to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals for the first time since 2013.
