Nadal Looking To Close 2009 On High Note

© Getty ImagesRafael Nadal is awarded with a prize for the Performance of the Year 2008 by the French Sports Academy.

ATP World Tour No. 2 Rafael Nadal will open his BNP Paribas Masters campaign against fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro Wednesday, as he looks to end a title drought dating back to his triumph at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (d. Djokovic) in Rome at the start of May.

Nadal is looking for a return to top form at the close of 2009, following six months marred by injury. The Mallorcan suffered his first-ever defeat at Roland Garros in the fourth round (l. to Soderling) before enduring an enforced break from the tour due to knee tendonitis, which left him unable to defend his title at Wimbledon.

However, the 23 year old has consistently performed well since his return to action at the Rogers Cup, despite an abdominal strain suffered during the summer, and is optimistic he can have a strong finish to his campaign.

“I [have] never thought about that (not having won a tournament since May),” said Nadal. “In normal conditions (without injury), I [have] played two tournaments in the past six months. I played one semi-final (at the China Open) and one final (at ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai, presented by Rolex) in normal conditions. With not very good conditions, I played quarter-finals in Montreal, semi-finals in Cincinnati and semi-finals in US Open. So the results are doing very well.

“I'm not playing on clay and not playing in small tournaments, so it's more difficult to have victories in these big tournaments. You have to be full of confidence, you have to be playing really well, and anyway, I had a good result. I know for this year it’s going be very difficult to win another title. But I have the chance in the Davis Cup final, and I’m going to try to help my team to win the Davis Cup,” added the Manacor resident, who will lead Spain in its bid to win a fourth Davis Cup title against Czech Republic in Barcelona next month.

Nadal has won a staggering 15 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, just two short of all-time leader Andre Agassi, including three trophies this season. However, the Spaniard has yet to add the Paris (Bercy) crown to his collection, coming closest in 2007 when he lost to David Nalbandian in the final.

“This tournament is always difficult, and this kind of surface is the most difficult of the year for me,” admitted Nadal. “But I always try my best to still improve and to play better and better. This year, I lost a little bit the rhythm in the middle of the season, because I had the injuries. But [it’s] tough to play after being injured. When I came back, I broke (sic) the abdominal, so it was a difficult second half of the year. But I’m going try to finish as good as possible.”
 
Despite his injury struggles, Nadal has still enjoyed another stellar season, winning five tour-level titles, and, along with Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, is one of three players to have won at least 60 tour-level matches. The reigning ATP World Tour Champion will have his work cut out for him if he is to retain his year-end title, and will need strong showings this week and at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London if he is to overtake Roger Federer and finish the year at No. 1 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings.