Rafael Nadal accomplished almost everything in tennis during his legendary 23-year career as a professional player.
The Spaniard won 92 tour-level singles titles, including 22 Grand Slam crowns, 14 of which were captured at Roland Garros – an Open Era record that may never be beaten. Nadal is an Olympic gold medalist, a five-time Davis Cup champion, a former world number one, a 36-time ATP Masters 1000 winner, and, in the eyes of many, the greatest tennis player in history.
But Nadal never managed to win one of the most prestigious tournaments in the sport: the ATP Finals.
Rafael Nadal’s explanation for his struggles on indoor courts
Across 11 appearances at the year-end competition, Nadal reached the final twice, in 2010 and 2013, but could never get over the line. While he had no trouble on outdoor hard courts, the King of Clay found it difficult indoors, which he elaborated on back in 2015.
“I think the feeling on the ball is different than on outdoor [courts],” said Nadal in a press conference that year after a win against Stan Wawrinka in the round robin stage of the ATP Finals. The things that during all my career worked very well in outdoor courts, in indoor have been more difficult.
“It’s obvious that the opponents had more chances to play the way that he wanted to play against me. The topspin is less important. The serve gets bigger impact in indoor than in outdoor. Try to play two, three shots helps a lot. Wind is not there. I like to play with more different conditions.
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“But it is true that I played good tournaments indoor, too. I will be lying if I am not saying I played a couple very good tournaments on indoor. It’s not like I am playing bad in indoors at all. The opponents are good. I believe the opponents I have here feel them play a little bit better than me.”
Nadal has won two ATP titles indoors, both of which have been clinched on indoor clay courts. He won his first such title at the Madrid Open in 2005, and the second at an ATP 250 event in Sao Paulo during the 2013 season.
Outside of his two near-misses in title bouts at the ATP Finals, Nadal also came up short in indoor finals at the 2007 Paris Masters, the 2009 Rotterdam Open, and the 2015 Swiss Indoors in Basel.
Rafael Nadal said it was ‘unfair’ that the ATP Finals were indoors every year
The ATP Finals has predominantly been played on indoor hard courts, with the exception of a few editions, a decision from the higher-ups that once resulted in Nadal making a complaint.
As per tennis.com, Nadal called for the ATP Finals to switch surfaces some years. “I have not always been a fantastic player on indoor,” he said. “Just a few times have I been able to play at a high level on indoor.
“I feel like I am unlucky. During these nine years, the Masters Cup was on indoor, a surface that was not the best for me. So probably for me I was a little bit unlucky in this because in the past we had the Masters Cup on other surfaces. I understand, but I think this is unfair.”
Nadal’s longtime rival, Roger Federer, said: “I know there’s an argument to have it on clay, on grass, to have it outdoors—and I did play outdoors in Houston. I just feel indoors doesn’t have enough play. The indoor season is small. I believe indoors deserves a huge event, which this one is.” Federer won the ATP Finals six times in his career.
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