Rafael Nadal had to retire from the Paris Masters due to injury, but he will be able to take part in the ATP Finals in London.
Following a scan on Monday in Mallorca, the world number one has learned that his injury wasn’t as serious as feared. The injury had thrown scares that the Spaniard would fail to make it to the tournament.
As such, he’ll travel to London on Wednesday with his trainer Carlos Moya and he’ll try to win the only big title that he has never before lifted, while he’ll also be looking to maintain his number one ranking.
Nadal confirmed the news via his twitter account stating; “Despite having a small strain, I will travel to London. Thursday or Friday I will start serving. The idea is to be able to play the ATP finals in London.”
Nadal has pulled out of the ATP Finals four times since it moved to London in 2009 while he withdrew after one round-robin match on his last appearance in 2017.
Nadal has qualified for this elite tournament 15 years in a row, but had to withdraw due to injury on six occasions and didn’t want to do so for a seventh time.
The 33-year-old regained the world number one ranking for the first time in a year on Monday but has Novak Djokovic breathing down his neck in the race for the year-end top spot.
Nadal, who has never won the title, would need to reach the final and win all three of his group matches to guarantee staying at number one.
The Spaniard was drawn in the Andre Agassi group on Tuesday, and has avoided long-term career rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
The Swiss and the Serb are in the Bjorn Borg group alongside Dominic Thiem and Matteo Berrettini, while Nadal will play Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev should he declare himself fit.
The season-ending tour finals at the O2 Arena in London, which will move to Turin in 2021, starts on Sunday.
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