Rafael Nadal withdraws from ATP Finals due to a knee injury

The World No 1 announced late on Monday night that he was ending his season after struggling with a knee injury during his unexpected defeat to David Goffin

The World No 1 has pulled out of the season-ending tournament (Getty)

Rafael Nadal's season ended as it has so often in the past as the Spaniard withdrew from the Nitto ATP Finals here on Monday night after failing to recover from a recurrence of his perennial knee problems.

Nadal tried to recover his fitness after withdrawing from his previous tournament because of an injury to his right knee, but in losing 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 to Belgium’s David Goffin in his opening round-robin match at the year-end finals it was clear that he was in serious pain.

“My season is finished,” Nadal said afterwards. “I tried hard. I did the thing that I had to do to try to be ready to play, but I am really not ready to play. I really fought a lot during the match, but knew there was a big chance that it would be the last match of the season.”


 Nadal struggled and eventually fell to Goffin 
 (Getty)

He added: “It’s about the pain. I could not find enough power to keep playing. I tried, but seriously it was a miracle to be very close in the score during the match. It really didn’t make sense.”

Asked if he was confident that he could eventually recover fully from the injury, Nadal said: “I know what I have to do. I know all the things that have happened in the past when I had these things and I know the treatment that I had to do. I know the periods of time that I need to work. We will see if the treatment works or not.

“The good thing is that this is nothing new. Everybody on my team, we have the right experience with this thing. We hope to manage it well, to have the right rest, the right work, and try to be ready for the beginning of next season.”

Nadal has qualified for these season-ending finals 13 years in a row, but this was the sixth time that he has either failed to make the starting line-up or withdrawn during the tournament.

“This is an event I missed too many times in my career,” he said. “But at the same that's how it works, my career. I can't complain. I feel very lucky about all the things that are happening to me, but on the other hand it is true that I am probably the top player who has had more injuries and more troubles in the careers of anyone.”

He added: “I really believed that I didn’t deserve after this great season to spend two more days on court with these terrible feelings. Of course I am 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.”


 Nadal has called time on his season after defeat at the O2 
 (Getty)

Nadal ended his final press conference of the season in typical fashion. “Thank you and Merry Christmas everyone,” he said with a smile.

Given the injury problems which had dragged Nadal down in the previous three years it was, on reflection, a remarkable feat to retain his fitness through most of a season in which he reclaimed the world No 1 position and won two Grand Slam titles.

It was a typical of Nadal that he fought to the very end against Goffin. He saved four match points in the second set, despite having already decided during it that this would be his last appearance of the year.

In a match littered with errors on both sides of the net, Nadal had trouble getting down to his shots on the low-bouncing court and looked in particular trouble when pulled out wide.

At 5ft 11in and less than 11 stone, Goffin is small by the standards of modern players, but punches well above his weight and strikes the ball beautifully. Although he made his share of mistakes he regularly had Nadal on the run by finding some exquisite angles.

The first set featured 35 unforced errors (16 by Nadal and 19 by Goffin), while the Belgian hit 15 winners to the Spaniard’s six. Nadal struggled to find his rhythm from the start and was broken in the third game.

The Spaniard levelled three games later, however, and after another exchange of breaks the set went to a tie-break. Goffin took it 7-5, winning five of the last seven points.

The second set went with serve until Goffin broke to lead 5-3, converting his first break point with a thumping forehand return winner. The Belgian double-faulted on break point when he tried to serve out for victory and failed to take a match point in the following game when he missed a forehand.


 Nadal will return in 2018 
 (Getty)

At 5-6 Nadal went 0-40 down but saved three more match points with some typically courageous play. He won the tie-break 7-4, having won six points in a row from 0-2 down, but was soon in trouble in the deciding set. He retrieved one break of serve but after two hours and 37 minutes Goffin converted his fifth match point with an ace.

Nadal will be replaced for his next two round-robin matches by his fellow Spaniard, Pablo Carreno Busta, who could yet go through to the semi-finals if he wins both of them.

On Wednesday Carreno Busta will face Dominic Thiem after the Austrian’s 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 loss to Grigor Dimitrov, who is playing in the year-end finals for the first time.

The win over Thiem was an emotional victory for the world No 6.

“It was just one of those new experiences that I think I'm going to remember for the rest of my life,” Dimitrov said afterwards. “This is where I always wanted to be at, among the top players.”

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares had a disappointing start to their doubles campaign, losing 7-5, 6-7, 10-8 to the Bryan brothers, despite having coming back from 1-4 down in the second set. “We had it on our racket in a way, then we let it slip,” Murray said. “We lost quite a lot of matches like that this year. We just need to find a way to do better in those moments and close things out when we have the chance.”

Murray and Soares will next play Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers, who were beaten 7-6, 6-4 by Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo.