Rafael Nadal says he needs to play more matches before he can regain his top form after suffering a straight sets loss to Taylor Fritz at the ATP Finals on Sunday.
The world No.2 fell 7-6(3), 6-1, to the American in what is his third consecutive loss after being beaten by Frances Tiafoe at the US Open and Tommy Paul at the Paris Masters. It is the first time since 2009 that the Spaniard has suffered three losses in a row on the Tour. In his latest match, Nadal produced a costly 22 unforced errors which was more than double the number of Fritz’s.
“I need more matches to play at this kind of level,” Nadal told reporters. “Even if I am practising well, much better than how I am competing, without a doubt.”
“In the end, it (the ATP Finals) is not the ideal tournament and probably part of the season to come back after a couple of months without being on the tour because you don’t have time to get confidence.”
After enjoying a stellar start to the 2022 season by winning two Grand Slam titles within the first six months, Nadal’s progress has been halted by injury more recently. An abdominal problem forced him to pull out of his semi-final match at Wimbledon. He has also taken time away from the sport following the birth of his first child.
“Something that is normal is happening to me after the last five months I had. But even if it’s normal, I am disappointed and I think I can do better things in the competition,” he said.
The ATP Finals has been an Achilles heel for the former world No.1 who is yet to win the title. He has qualified for the event 17 times in his career but has only managed to play 11 times due to various injury issues. Nadal’s best performances was finishing runner-up twice in 2010 and 2013.
This year’s season-ending event is taking place at the Pala Alpitour in Turin on a relatively fast indoor court. During his on-court interview, Fritz said he believes the outcome of matches will be decided by how players serve and return due to its speed. Something which Nadal admits is a factor for him.
“Tennis and the sport in general, it’s about time. I have less time than him (Fritz) to do what I want to do on the ball. I felt that everything was going so fast. When that happens, normally you are under stress, and you don’t have the time to play the kind of shot that you want.” He said.
Unfortunately for Nadal, he doesn’t have much time to find his footing with two matches against Casper Ruud and Felix Auger-Aliassime coming later this week.
“In most of the points of the match, I was in a defensive position, and he was in an offensive position,” he commented on his match against Fritz. “That’s what happened… But every single time I came back from injury, [it’s not normal] playing against top players [from] the first day. That’s what’s happens when you are coming back playing Masters 1000s and [the Nitto ATP Finals].”
Nadal will return to action on Tuesday. This week he is also in contention of claiming the No.1 ranking but must reach the final to have the chance of doing so.
