Milan: World No.1 Rafael Nadal will be fit for the ATP Finals in London next week despite concerns over the state of the Spaniard’s knee, coach Carlos Moya said.

Nadal, 31, pulled out of the Paris Masters before his quarter-final match last week after experiencing discomfort in his right knee during his third-round win over Pablo Cuevas.

It raised fears the 16-time Grand Slam champion would join a lengthy list of leading names, including 2016 champion Andy Murray and three-time London winner Novak Djokovic, who are already sidelined for the season-ender.
Moya had better news though. “Rafa is fine, the knee is okay,” the former world No.1 said in Milan after taking part in a coaching workshop at the Next Gen ATP Finals.

“He stopped just to take no risks. Rafa will be competitive in London because it’s the only big tournament he hasn’t won.”

Nadal silenced the naysayers this year by returning from an injury-plagued 2016 to win the French Open for a 10th time before taking the US Open crown.

It helped him secure the year-end No.1 ranking for the fourth time, nearly a decade after he first achieved it.
Moya, who began working with his fellow Mallorcan a year ago, said Nadal’s feats this year had not surprised him. “I expected Rafa to be No.1 again,” he said. “I’m not surprised because I’ve seen him training as usual with lots of passion. His tennis and his mind has taken him to number one.”

Nadal is due to start his ATP Finals challenge on Monday against Belgium’s David Goffin.

American Jack Sock, meanwhile, is looking to enjoy playing in the ATP Finals. 

“I’m going to play some free tennis here and enjoy my time out on court and take all the confidence from the last few weeks of my season and definitely carry those into training for the off-season and into 2018.”

Interestingly, Sock was so certain he would not qualify for next week's ATP Finals that he had a tee time booked at Augusta National. The American will have to wait another day to cross that round of golf off his bucket list.

Reuters