Rafael Nadal was satisfied with his 7-5 7-5 victory over Casper Ruud as he ended his 2022 season in style.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion may not be in the semi-finals of the Nitto ATP Finals but the Spaniard ended his season in style.
Nadal defeated Casper Ruud in straight sets as he looks ahead to next season while Ruud will take on Stefanos Tsitsipas or Andrey Rublev in the last four.
Despite losing his first two matches to Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime, Nadal showed resilience and a much consistent level to take down the third seed.
After his victory Nadal dismissed claims that he needed to win the match today but was satisfied with his performance and attitude, “About how much I need? I don’t know. I really don’t think going to make a big difference in the future,” Nadal admitted in Turin.
“At the end it’s about finish the season with a victory. It’s about see myself competitive against a great player with chances of victory. It’s about to have the personal satisfaction that after a couple of very tough days, I went yesterday on the practice courts and I make a very good practice with the right attitude. Today I receive the prize for that practice of yesterday, and that’s it.
“Three matches here. At the end that’s what I need now, as I said even before the tournament start, even if I practicing well, I need days on court and matches, something I was not able to make.
“That happened the last month, and I think I was able to improve every day a little bit, no? Today was a good level of tennis for me, serving well, playing with more determination at the right moments.”
Nadal would have pleased to end another incredible season on a high having suffered a couple of significant injuries at the end of the year.
The Spaniard will now look to enjoy time as a father before heading to Latin America to play a few matches against Casper Ruud in preparation for the 2023 season.
It will be an interesting season for Nadal who will begin by defending his Australian Open title having won it this year.
In his post-match press conference Nadal admitted he is uncertain about how the Australian swing will go but will prepare as hard as possible in Latin America, “Even if the courts are different, it’s about being competitive and be under confidence and be under the rhythm of the competition,” Nadal spoke about the Australian Open.
“At the end, in my case – I can’t talk for everyone – but in my case, if I am in rhythm of competition, winning matches, in a good confidence, normally I don’t have a big problem to be competitive in every single court or surface. That’s the thing.
“But just excited I going to be there. If nothing goes wrong, going to be there early. That’s what I need. Even if it’s an effort for me and sacrifice to go very early from home, I think that’s what I need to do after what happened the last five months.
“Try to be there early, not only because of the preparation of Australia, but because of preparation for myself for the rest of the season. What I need today is spend hours on the court in a competitive level. That’s going to helps. At the same time every time that I played in Latino America, I charge the batteries of energy because the crowd there are so passionate.
“I enjoy the fact that I going to be playing there in front of them. I don’t know if maybe last time in my professional tennis career being active. So excited about that. Probably going to be one of the last opportunities.”
Nadal is expected to start his season at the new mixed doubles tournament, the United Cup which starts on the 29th of December in preparation for the Australian Open which starts on the 16th of January.
