Rafael Nadal’s World Tour Finals campaign is over. It wasn’t a good one. Nadal’s 2017 season is also over. It was a great one.
Undone by a knee injury, the Spaniard lost to David Goffin 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-4 during round-robin action on Monday night in London and then announced his withdrawal while talking to the media. Goffin, meanwhile, secured the biggest win of his career–at least in terms of ranking–after two hours and 37 minutes.
Nadal, who withdrew from the Paris Masters prior to the quarterfinals because of the same knee problem, did well to make this one so competitive. Goffin seemed to be cruising toward a straight-set victory on several occasions, but Nadal simply would not go away. As it turned out, though, the world No. 1 used up everything he had in his near-empty gas tank to steal the second set. Nothing remained for the third–in which he still won four games.
Even before the match was over, Nadal knew his tournament would not continue.
“I [knew] during the match,” he explained. (This) is not a decision I [took] five minutes ago; (this) is a decision that I [took] during the match. Even winning, even losing, I (was) going to pull out because I was not enjoying on court at all…. I am, of course, disappointed. But I am not going to cry. I had a great season. I really appreciate all the things that happened to me during the whole season. I (am) going to work hard to try to give me more chances the next season to keep being at the top.”
It is Goffin who is on top of Group A along with Grigor Dimitrov, who also survived a three-setter on Monday. Making his debut appearance at the O2 Arena, Dimitrov held off Dominic Thiem 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 during the afternoon session.
“It was just one of those new experiences that I think I’m going to remember for the rest of my life,” the Bulgarian assured. “I think (I’ll) appreciate (it) for the rest of my life. This is where I always wanted to be–among the top players. Also being able to come through in my first match, it’s only positive.”
Bob and Mike Bryan came through their first match, as well, also in a decider. After splitting two sets against Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, the Bryans survived the super-tiebreaker 10-8. Murray Soares, who battle back from a break down in the second, could not quite overcome an 8-3 deficit in the ‘breaker.
The only straight-set result of the day saw Lukasz Kubot and Marcel Melo defeat Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers. With their victory, Kubot and Melo clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking.
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