Zverev rolls, Nadal vows to keep fighting in London

Just like in 2017, Rafael Nadal suffered an upset loss in his first round-robin match at the Nitto ATP Finals. Unlike two years ago, however, Nadal vows to put aside injury concerns and continue battling inside in the O2 Arena.

In what would have been a stern test even for a fully fit Nadal, defending champion Alexander Zverev rolled to a 6-2, 6-4 victory on Monday night. Zverev served at 88 percent and fired 11 aces while double-faulting just twice to prevail in one hour and 24 minutes.

Given that Nadal had withdrawn prior to a semifinal match at the Paris Masters two weeks ago because of an abdominal issue, there were fears that his subpar performance on Monday would result in an immediate exit from London–which was the case in 2017 following an opening setback against David Goffin.

“I am off; my season is finished,” the Spaniard said while dealing with a knee injury at the time. “Merry Christmas, everyone.”

This time around, however, it is not Christmas time in early November for Nadal. He assured following the loss to Zverev that he is physically 100 percent and confident in his ability to finish off the season in London and then in Madrid for the Davis Cup finals.

“It was not a problem with the abdominal at all,” the world No. 1 stated. “I did not feel pain in the abdominal at all. No, just Sascha…well played. And me…bad played, honestly. We can find reasons or excuses, but at the end of the day what really matters is I need to play much better in two days. That’s the only thing. We knew that going to be tough at beginning because the period of time since the injury until today is very short, but we are here trying. I (will) stay positive; I (will) stay competitive–something that today I was not.

“We had to do the things step by step, step by step, being very [precautious] in all the movements that we have been doing since last Saturday. And today I’m fine. So the physical issue was not an excuse at all. The only excuse is I was not good enough tonight.”

No one was good enough for Zverev at the 2018 event. Although Djokovic defeated the German in round-robin play, the German avenged that loss when it mattered most with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph in the title match. He also knocked off Roger Federer 7-5, 7-6(5) in the semifinals.

Zverev certainly played like the defending champion against Nadal. The world No. 7 dropped a mere 12 points on serve in the entire match, including only four in the opening set and just four in total on his first serve. Time and again he came up with impressive forehands from difficult positions, most notably with an on-the-run winner at 4-3, 30-30 in the second.

“I’m super happy, obviously,” Zverev assured. “It was a great night for me, especially (with) me struggling the whole year. Obviously I’m still the defending champion coming back here. When I’m here, I want to use the opportunity as much as I can and do the best as I can. Today was definitely a great match.”

It may be true that Nadal is not–and has never been–at his best in London. But it is also true that Zverev was outstanding in his own right.

When asked if he noticed anything about his opponent’s physical condition, the 22-year-old said with a smile, “I did play pretty well.”

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