Rafael Nadal isn’t confident about World Tour Finals after suffering Paris Masters defeat
A new way has arisen in Grand Slams, and that is the possibility of a player qualifying directly for the Olympic Games.
The 2018 French Open is in sight, with Rafael Nadal set to become the first tennis player to qualify.
However, the 32-year-old Spaniard is not so confident about his chances to take part in the Rio Summer Games, which will take place in August.
While Nadal has previously had a good start to the French, after making the final at Roland Garros in 2014 and winning at his home Grand Slam back in 2011, the Spaniard has been defeated by Novak Djokovic at the Paris Masters in June and has now fallen short to Djokovic in straight sets this time.
“Well, no of course not,” Nadal told reporters after his loss to the former world number one in Paris.
“My target was to reach Paris, but then again, this tournament. My target was to reach the final or at least the semifinal, but this tournament (as a whole) was not so well prepared for me.
“We had a little bit of rain and then the wind arrived. I did not know how important the conditions of the tournament were. I knew it was going to be a very hard tournament, but this was not the case, it was very difficult here.”
“Very difficult” is an understatement for French Open champion Nadal.
A couple of years ago, he was losing to players he beat in the last 16 at Roland Garros.
“Yeah. Very, very difficult,” he added. “That’s it. Very difficult.”
With the rain now threatening to arrive in Paris, the 24-year-old is hoping the conditions will be better this time. He was beaten by Tomas Berdych in the final of the Paris Open, so he will know the importance of the conditions in the French Open.
“I hope things will be better, but this I don’t have any expectations,” he said before his defeat to the Czech player.
“I was very happy to make the third round here, because when I came here in 2014 I was not even close to third, so this is really a
