ATP World Tour Finals: Rafael Nadal says knee injury is 'not perfect'
| ATP World Tour Finals | |
|---|---|
| Venue: The 02 Arena, London Dates: 12-19 November | |
| Coverage: Watch live on BBC Two, Red Button, BBC Sport website and mobile app, listen on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and follow text updates online. | |
World number one Rafael Nadal says his knee is “not perfect” but expects to be fit enough to start the ATP World Tour Finals in London on Monday.
The Spaniard, 31, withdrew before his quarter-final match in last week’s Paris Masters with the injury.
Nadal will play Belgium’s David Goffin in his opening tie.
“If I didn’t believe I could be ready for Monday I wouldn’t be here,” said Nadal, who has won the US Open and the French Open in 2017.
Nadal, who has already guaranteed top spot in the world rankings at the end of the season, also faces Dominic Thiem of Austria and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in his group.
“The knee is not perfect, of course, after having to retire from Paris,” Nadal told BBC Sport.
“In a couple of days you cannot expect to be 100% but I had treatment and I’m expecting to be better and better every day. I’m here to try my best to give me a chance.”
World number two Roger Federer, 36, opted not to play in Paris, after beating Argentine Juan Martin del Potro to win the Swiss Indoors in Basel last month.
The Swiss 19-time Grand Slam champion has won seven titles in 2017, including Wimbledon and the Australian Open, and played a charity event against Britain’s Andy Murray in Glasgow on Tuesday.
“I feel fine,” said Federer, who opens his campaign on Sunday afternoon against American Jack Sock.
“I had a very slow last 10 days. I practised twice during the week in Paris and I only hit for an hour both times.
“I came here on Monday, then played the exhibition against Andy [Murray] in Glasgow and was then off again on Wednesday so I’ve been really taking it slowly to really just make sure I totally rested after Basel.”
How do the finals work?
| ATP World Tour Finals singles draw | |
|---|---|
| Pete Sampras group | Boris Becker group |
| Rafael Nadal [1] | Roger Federer [2] |
| Dominic Thiem [4] | Alexander Zverev [3] |
| Grigor Dimitrov [6] | Marin Cilic [5] |
| David Goffin [7] | Jack Sock [8] |
The best eight qualified singles players and doubles teams from the tour go head-to-head for the prestigious end-of-season titles.
Each player competes in three group matches, playing for a spot in the semi-finals.
Britain’s defending champion Andy Murray misses out after ending his season early through injury.
In the doubles draw, Britain’s Jamie Murray and his partner Bruno Soares will start their quest for the trophy against the American Bryan brothers.
Schedule
- The event will be broadcast live on BBC television, radio and online.
Sunday (All times GMT)
- 12:00: Kontinen/Peers v Harrison/Venus
- Not before 14:00: Federer v Sock
- Not before 18:00: Rojer/Tecau v Herbert/Mahut
- Not before 20:00: Zverev v Cilic
Monday
- 12:00: Murray/Soares v Bryan/Bryan
- Not before 14:00: Thiem v Dimitrov
- Not before 18:00: Kubot/Melo v Dodig/Granollers
- Not before 20:00: Nadal v Goffin