Rafael Nadal has accomplished almost everything there is on the ATP Tour, however capturing the season-ending ATP Finals trophy continues to elude him.
The World No.2 has been a staple at this event over the last decade, as he has been ranked in the Top 10 since 2005. Furthermore, he has qualified for the Finals for a record 16 consecutive years but has never lifted the title. Regardless, the two-time runner-up looks to finally break the curse and leave London with the biggest indoor trophy on the ATP Tour.
“We can find excuses or reasons but, at the end of the day, the numbers are the numbers,” said Nadal. “I think I played less indoors than on the other surfaces, without a doubt… The indoor surfaces have not been the ideal surfaces for my tennis game since the beginning of my career.
I think I am able to play a little better in the past couple of years indoors than I did at the beginning of my tennis career, without a doubt, but [these are] the numbers. I can’t say something different. I hope to change that this week.”
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With the event commencing this weekend, the Spaniard kicks off his campaign against Andrey Rublev in the evening session on Sunday. The Russian is making his debut at the event, and leads the ATP with five titles won this year.
“I don’t know how close I am to the perfect preparation,” said Nadal. “I tried to fight hard in every single match in Bercy. That put me in a position that I already played four matches on this surface and hopefully that can help me here, but there remains two days for me to practice here. I hope to be ready to accept the challenge to play against such difficult opponents like Rublev in the first match.”
The Nitto ATP Finals will be hosted in Turin beginning next year, as it has been held in London since 2009.
Prior to the Finals in London next week, the Sofia Open is the last tournament of the season. Click here for up-to-date results and live scores.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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