Rafael Nadal insists he has no regrets over any decisions he made in 2017 regarding his calendar, despite the latest knee injury that forced him to withdraw from the ATP Finals on Monday.
The 31-year-old Spaniard has had a tremendous season, where he returned to No. 1 in the world for the first time in three years and won two Grand Slam titles, including a record 10th Roland Garros.
But a right knee problem ended his 2017 campaign on a sour note, as he pulled out of the action in London following a three-set defeat to David Goffin on Monday night.
Nadal’s knee had been bothering for the last few weeks, and he withdrew ahead of his Paris Masters quarter-finals earlier this month, after he secured the year-end No. 1 ranking with his opening round victory in the French capital.
Members of his team were against Nadal competing at the ATP Finals in London – an event he missed multiple times in the past due to injury – but the top seed insisted he would at least try to compete at the season finale.
He was clearly in pain throughout his opener against Goffin and many questioned whether he put himself through that out of obligation to the tournament.
“Nobody put a gun to my head to come and play. I do what I personally feel inside and not because someone forced me to do this,” Nadal said after the match.
“A week ago, it was on the table to put an end to the season, and part of my team wanted that. It was my decision to be here.
“Sometimes things go well and sometimes they don’t. You have to accept both with a good attitude.”
Nadal contested 18 tournaments this season (including the ATP Finals), and ends the year with 67 wins from 78 matches. He also played the Laver Cup in September and the Abu Dhabi exhibition end of December 2016, but neither are official tour events.
Roger Federer in comparison has played just 54 matches (as of the morning of Tuesday November 14) across 12 tournaments (plus the non-official Hopman Cup in Perth in January, and Laver Cup).
The Swiss world No. 2 has scaled back on his events schedule this year to make sure he remains healthy as he continues to dominate the sport at 36 years of age.
Nadal refuses to make any comparisons with other players and is sticking by his own philosophy when choosing the events he wishes to compete in.
But as he ends another year with an injury, is he tempted to rethink his calendar to make sure he’s fit at the closing of the season?
“At the end of the day, everyone does their own calendar and all calendars can be valid or not depending on how you’re playing tennis,” said Nadal.
“The calendar is shaped by your tennis and your results. I don’t regret a single decision I have made all year.
“I had adequate rest. I played Brisbane, the only 250 I’ve played, I played Acapulco, I played Barcelona and I played Beijing. Those are the four tournaments I played outside the mandatory ones and I was competitive in all of them. I’m 31 not 36,” he added, referring to Federer.
“My career is mine, and his is his. My body, my mind and my tennis decides my calendar.”
Nadal will now take a well-deserved rest and is scheduled to return to action at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi from December 28-30, 2017.
