“Novak Djokovic is not an obsession but a challenge for me”, Rafael Nadal – Tennis News
World No.2, Rafael Nadal, has not been able to dethrone World No.1, Novak Djokovic. He has seen him on six different occasions but none of them proved to be glorious in favour of Spaniard who has lost his massive head-to-head to
just three games. However, apart from that he has been extremely competitive in almost all tournaments except his last performance Shanghai Open where he was flabbergasted by the German rival Florian Mayer in the third round in straight sets.
The head-to-head lead still rests with Spaniard but it has been close down by his Serbian arch rival this year. They started the year with a head-to-head score of 16-7 in favour of Nadal and now it’s squeezed down to just 13-16.
It shows the clear domination of the Serb on Spaniard throughout the year.
Nadal said “"The only important thing is to work and continue the illusion of always. I know more medicine than work, and overcoming illusion. I've always worked for me and the goal is to find a better level. Nor am I obsessed
with it because I can just go months without that we turn to face. And he's not my only rival, I have many. Be prepared to find solutions to a team that plays as good as him”.
Year’s first battle between the two deadly rivals started in Indian Wells final and Serb helped him to a hard fought victory. Then they again met in Miami final for another eye-startling three-setter but Djokovic held his nerves
and won the last set tie-breaker. Their third meeting was in Madrid Open final and despite the fact that Nadal was playing at his home court; Serb stunned him with his third successive win of the year.
Roma finale was another disappointing end, at the hands of World No.1, to a very promising start by Nadal. Wimbledon Grand Slam finale was another moment when Djokovic stood in the way of Spaniard and deprived him from winning
the second Grand Slam title of the year. Their last meeting was in another Grand Slam final and this time it was US Open; Nadal tried his best to overpower Djokovic but he couldn’t and lost another battle that shattered his dreams of winning another Grand
Slam title.
It has been a very tough year on him; only if he had those six matches turned into victories, his title tally would have been much more than just three. Spaniard believes he can win his maiden ATP Tour Finals at London and end
his season in cracking manner.
The draws for the ATP Tour Finals took place on Tuesday November 15th and Rafael Nadal is in Group B alongside Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer, French Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and American Mardy Fish. Tournament starts from Sunday
November 20th and Rafael Nadal looks to make his mark and clinch his fourth title of the year.
Tags: