Rafael's Nadal's coach Toni Nadal has added some perspective to the Spaniard's brilliant 2017 campaign, stating that the journey would have been much more difficult if his chief adversaries Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic were fully fit. Hip and elbow injuries respectively kept the players out of top form for a major part of the year, who otherwise would have mounted a challenge.

The Spaniard has won six titles in 2017, which include two Grand Slams – the French and the US Open – and has recently confirmed his place as the year-end world number one for the fourth time in his career. This season has been one to cherish for Nadal, his best after 2013, when he won 10 titles and looks to cap it with finally winning the ATP finals, a title that has eluded him thus far.

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Nadal will now participate in the ATP World Tour Fnals in London. Should he make his way through the tournament's group stages, which include participants such as Grigor Dimitrov, Dominic Thiem and David Goffin, Nadal could set up a title clash with Roger Federer, who he has failed to beat in four attempts this year.

Nadal is still calibrating the risk involved in participating in London after an injury scare, which saw him retire prematurely from the Paris Masters in the quarter-finals last week. Nadal's doctor confirmed that the injury was nothing new and that it was just a minor knock but has been asked to carefully weigh his options going forward.

"It is true that it has helped us that those who were ahead have not been well and it has been a small help," Toni said, as quoted by the Express.

"When Djokovic was very good, he was also fortunate that the two who created more problems for him, Rafa and Federer, were not at their best. "If Murray and Djokovic had not been as they were last year, the Grand Slams would have been distributed among the four."

Roger Federer
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have dominated the field in 2017 Getty
Novak Djokovic Andy Murray Rafael Nadal Roger Federer