Rafael Nadal provides update on knee and ATP Finals participation after Paris Masters injury scare
KEY POINTS
- Nadal had to withdraw from the Basel Open due to a knee problem.
- Spaniard maintains he will keep playing and will feature in the ATP Finals in London.
- World number one defeated Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.
Despite an injury scare in the Rolex Paris Masters, Rafael Nadal insists that he will keep playing until the end of the season.
The Spaniard defeated Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 in a hard-fought win lasting two hours and twenty minutes to advance to the quarter-final of the event.
However, Nadal, who withdrew from the Basel Open due to a knee problem, seemed to have suffered a recurrence of the injury as his right knee was bandaged up during the win.
With long-time rival Roger Federer withdrawing from the Paris Masters in order to take care of his body, Nadal playing on with an injury could be detrimental in the long-run.
But the 31-year-old claims it was nothing serious and that he will continue playing until the end of the season as he hopes to win in Paris and overtake Novak Djokovic's Masters tally with a record 31st title as well as win his first-ever ATP Finals in London.
"I don't want to talk about the knee but about the quarter final," Nadal said, as quoted on The Express.
"I am in the most important city [Paris] of my life, I am not taking risks, I just play.
"Of course I will play in [the ATP Finals in] London! I don't worry to play tomorrow at 3.30 pm. The rest is not a problem for me."
Nadal was taken to a third set for the fourth time in his last 12 matches but the world number one believes it is natural after what has been a long but successful year.
"I didn't expect to win fast [vs Cuevas]," he added. "It was a very long year. I just keep fighting."
Next up for the 16-time Grand Slam champion is a quarter-final clash on Friday (3 November) with Serbian qualifier Filip Krajinovic.
