Nadal aims to end on a high

Rafael Nadal has vowed to finish a frustrating campaign on a high as the world’s top players gather in London for the ATP Tour Finals.

Although world number two Nadal claimed a sixth French Open crown this year, his campaign has been marred by Novak Djokovic’s remarkable ability to defeat him time and again at the final hurdle.

The Spaniard lost six successive finals to Djokovic, including at Wimbledon and the US Open, and surrendered his spot on top of the world rankings to the Serb as a result.

Nadal has been open about the psychological impact those defeats have had, but he is eager to stress beating Djokovic is not in any way an obsession.

“I’m not working every day thinking about Novak, I’m working every day thinking what I need to do to be a better player, and that’s what I need to keep doing,” Nadal said.

“Novak had an unbelievable year.

“He is not going to be at this level all his career and other people will have chances. He’s played a very high level, the highest level I have ever seen.”

Nadal opted to take a month off after disappointing defeats against Andy Murray and Florian Mayer in Asia after the US Open.

Nadal, Djokovic and the other top six players in the rankings are in London for the last event of the year, which starts today.

The Spaniard opens against American Mardy Fish, competing in the tournament for the first time, while Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are also in the group.

Erratic Federer

Federer starts his bid to win a record sixth World Tour Finals crown against Tsonga, who came back from two sets down to shock the Swiss at Wimbledon this year.

That defeat was typical of Federer’s erratic season, which will end without a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2002.

The 30-year-old, who has slipped to fourth in the rankings, remains calm about the perceived crisis and, after winning his last two tournaments in Basle and Paris, sees signs he is finally back to his best.

“I’m not questioning myself because I feel I’ve found what it is that made the one per cent difference in winning all those matches or not,” Federer said.

“I was so close to having another terrific year. If I had won three or four matches more at important stages of the tournaments this year, things would have looked completely different.”

The other group features Djokovic, Murray, David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych.

For Djokovic the prospect of ending his fairytale year with one more title might be enough to force his weary limbs into action again.

Djokovic has enjoyed one of the best seasons in tennis history after victories at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, as well as five Masters titles and an incredible run of just four losses in 73 matches.

“This year was success after success, grand slam after grand slam, it was coming up all the time,” he said.

“It is because I was thankful to have the opportunity and I stayed with both feet on the ground but always wanting more.”