ATP Finals: Here's A Positive Takeaway From World No. 1 Nadal's Opening Round Loss To Zverev

Rafael Nadal, who commenced his ATP Finals campaign on a losing note, pointed at a positive takeaway after his opening match loss to Alexander Zverev on Monday.

After a 6-2, 6-4 defeat at the Nitto ATP Finals at O2 Arean in London, the World No. 1 was at least satisfied because he had no "physical complaints." Nadal, who earlier was not sure if he would be able to participate in the year-ending tournament, did not feel any abdominal pain and that was a huge positive element for the Spaniard.

"No complaint about the physical condition. No pain in the abdominal. That's the only positive thing, honestly. That's all. Happy the way that [the] abdominal [felt], and hopefully I can continue like this because it's true that I was not able to create a lot of practice and a lot of effort on that part of the body since last Saturday. The physical issue was not an excuse at all. The only excuse is I was not good enough tonight," Nadal told ATP after losing to Zverev on Monday.

Rafael Nadal remonstrates with the umpire during a break in play against Alexander Zverev at the ATP Finals AFP / Adrian DENNIS

While he was relaxed about his fitness, Nadal was disappointed as he was not competitive enough in his opening match of the Group Andre Agassi.

"I stay positive. I stay competitive, something that today I was not. That's the thing that I am more disappointed [with], because knowing that I will not be at my 100 per cent in terms of feelings, in terms of movement, in terms of confidence or hitting the ball, I needed my best competitive spirit this afternoon, and I was not there in that way," Nadal, who is yet to win an ATP Finals title, added.

In order to qualify for the last four of the tournament, Nadal will have to win his remaining two Round-Robin matches, which are against Russia's Daniil Medvedev and Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Nadal is aiming at ending the year as the top-ranked ATP player for the fifth time, a record that would equal him with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. The 19-time Grand Slam champion currently leads Djokovic by 440 points in the race for year-end No. 1.

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