Rafael Nadal appeared for a press conference ahead of his first match in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters (he had a bye in the first round). Here is some of what he said, courtesy of ATP.

“I thought that I would never have the chance to be back there. Being No. 1 again is special. I was confident that when I was back I would have the chance to keep competing well, keep having chances to play for important tournaments, but I never thought about being back to No. 1.”

“I consider the Masters 1000s one of the toughest tournaments to play because if you are not playing well from the beginning, is very difficult to be through. From the first round you have fantastic opponents in front [of you]. Sometimes in Grand Slams you can be a little bit luckier and you can have the draw a little bit more open. In Masters 1000, that’s very difficult.”

“I know in the past this part of the season was hard for me, but I am confident that I can keep playing well. I am doing the right things to be ready. Tomorrow I will start [against Alexandr Dolgopolov or Michael Russell]. I hope to be competitive and have my chance tomorrow. I’m going to go day to day as I did my whole career. I am going to try my best tomorrow.”

On Roger Federer, Rafa said:

“He’s going to go, he’s going to qualify. I am sure of that. He is not going to have a problem. Even if he doesn’t have lots of points of advantage, I feel he always played well in this last part of the season. He likes to play in these tournaments. He always had the positive results. I really feel that he will do it. He’s a great player and I am sure he will be there and fighting for the title.”

Pic: Sohu Sports

Associated Press

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