Rafa Relishes Finals Task

© Getty ImagesRafael Nadal will hope to record his first win at The O2 when he faces Andy Roddick in his opening match.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal declared Friday that if he is to win the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals it will take a greater effort than conquering a Grand Slam.

The Spaniard, who has a 43-26 indoor record and just one ATP World Tour indoor title to his name, was speaking at the London Marriott Hotel County Hall when he admitted: “For me personally it is more difficult to win four matches against the Top 8 players indoors than to win seven matches in a Grand Slam on another surface.”

The 24-year-old Nadal is returning to the season finale a year after going winless in his three round-robin matches at The O2, but while he admits he cannot rule out a repeat result, he is optimistic that with his current form and fitness he can have a big impact in the elite eight-man field.

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“When you are not playing well, when you feel not competitive, it’s not a nice feeling. But it’s part of sport. It could happen again, hopefully not. But I’m playing against the best players of the world in difficult conditions for me. So if you arrive here not playing your best tennis it can happen again and it happened last year. I’ve tried my best to change the situation this year. But if I am not playing my best tennis it is almost impossible for me to win matches on this surface.”

Nadal, who deemed his shoulder to be in “perfect” fettle after five weeks away from the courts, added that he could never have dreamed he would enjoy such a magnitude of success in 2010 following his injury troubles last year. Hard work and a determination to return to the top, he states, were the key.

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“This time last year it was difficult to imagine something like this,” said the left-hander. “Sometimes sport can change just like that, though; well, with a lot of work before. I wasn’t playing well here last year, but I practised a lot and every day I woke up with the allusion to improve the situation and that’s what I did and finally the situation changed. To win three Grand Slams was something impossible to imagine for me, but it happened and I will just keep working hard to keep having chances to win tournaments.

“Everything was really emotional for me. Two key points were Monte-Carlo and Roland Garros, after that everything was a little bit less difficult. Because I won those two tournaments, the rest was possible.”