Rafael Nadal has his eyes set on his last major career goal
Rafael Nadal is, without any shadow of doubt, one of the greatest tennis players ever. He currently has 16 Grand Slams in his kitty, behind only Roger Federer's mammoth tally of 19. But Nadal is five years younger than the Swiss maestro and, although his career has been infested with injuries, he might still have a remote chance at toppling Federer.
Nadal has conquered nearly every big title that a player can possibly win in tennis - the Davis Cup, Grand Slams, Olympic gold - he has already won them all. But there is one title that continues to elude the Spaniard, and that is the Nitto ATP Finals, formerly known as the ATP World Tour Finals.
Nadal was the numero uno player in the world on three previous occasions but failed to capture the title in London. He will once again be ranked No. 1 in the world at London this year, and he probably cannot wait to set right this deficiency. Rafa recently revealed that his major career goal is to win the prestigious Nitto ATP Finals.
"My big goal right now is to play as best [sic] as possible. I never won the World Tour Finals so I would like to do it, but seven other players want it too," Nadal said.
Several big names like Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, and Stan Wawrinka are all set to miss the event due to injuries. Marin Cilic and Grigor Dimitrov have recently secured their berths in the Nitto ATP Finals. Roger Federer, Dominic Thiem, and Alexander Zverev are the others who have already qualified for the event. This might possibly be one of the weakest draws in the marquee event in years, and thus, just might be Rafa's best opportunity to get his hands on the trophy.
But it certainly will not be a walk in the park for Nadal. Even though he has an impressive 23-15 win record over the master of the single-handed backhand, Federer is on a five-match winning streak against the southpaw. So, it will be imperative for Rafa to go back to the drawing board and solve the Roger Federer puzzle. Then, and only then, will he be able to achieve this goal - he cannot win this title without getting past the indomitable version of Federer that has been on display this year.
It will be interesting to see whether this clay-court legend will be able to turn the tide in his favour and finally win the elusive Nitto ATP Final title this year.