Monday, 30 November, 2009

Rafael Nadal is determined to rediscover the form that made him the world's most feared player after crashing out of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at London's O2 Arena.

The Spaniard became the first player to be eliminated from the lucrative end-of-season tournament after a 6-1 7-6 (7/4) defeat by an inspired Nikolay Davydenko, which followed on from a 6-4 6-4 loss to Robin Soderling on Monday.

Nadal, who has struggled with injury this season and relinquished the world number one spot to Roger Federer, said: "I didn't arrive at this tournament with the full confidence that you need to win these matches. And in the moments that I had to play well, I didn't play well. I made mistakes."

He added: "I fought a lot. Both matches I fought. I tried my best all the time, but it wasn't enough to win these matches.

"I think mentally I was better. That's the important thing that I improved a little bit today. Every day I'm trying a little bit more. I am ready to practice hard. I have motivation to play another time my best tennis.

"I think without playing very good tennis in all the matches, I had my chances against the best players of the world."

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World Tour victory for Davydenko
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Nadal targets return to form