TIL Desk Sports/ Spain’s Rafael Nadal, the world’s top-ranked tennis player, has said that despite a torrid start to his clay-court campaign it was unlikely he would be able to overcome an injury hiatus earlier in the season and finish as tennis’ year-end No.1 for the fifth time.
Nadal, in an interview on Thursday made the remarks ahead of the start of next week’s Madrid Open, where he will try to win a third straight clay court tournament in 2018.
“I’ve given away (due to injuries) three months of the year,” Nadal said, referring to his time away from the ATP World Tour from late January, when he retired in the fifth set of his quarter-final match against Croatia’s Marin Cilic at the Australian Open due to a hip injury, until the start of the Monte-Carlo Masters in mid-April.
“Not playing for three months and finishing No.1 in the world, I’d say it’s not impossible but it’s very unlikely,” the 16-time Grand Slam champion said at a Kia Motors event.
