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Rafael Nadal: chances of winning his first ever ATP Finals

By Harry Floyd

SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 15: Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts during the award ceremony after losing his Men's singles final match against Roger Federer of Switzerland on day eight of 2017 ATP Shanghai Rolex Masters at Qizhong Stadium on October 15, 2017 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
SHANGHAI, CHINA - OCTOBER 15: Rafael Nadal of Spain reacts during the award ceremony after losing his Men's singles final match against Roger Federer of Switzerland on day eight of 2017 ATP Shanghai Rolex Masters at Qizhong Stadium on October 15, 2017 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images) /
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Rafael Nadal will seek his first ever ATP Finals victory in the coming weeks. Here’s a look at his chances of claiming glory in London.

Rafael Nadal is gearing up for the 2017 ATP Finals in London.

It may come as a surprise to many tennis fans that the Spanish superstar is yet to win the end of year tournament. He is a two-time runner-up at the ATP Finals, but the last two decades have largely been dominated by Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

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The Serbian tennis star is out for the remainder of the year. Several other top players, including defending champion Andy Murray, will also miss this year’s finals. Federer, however, is searching for his seventh career win at the ATP World Tour event.

Rafael Nadal finished runner-up at both the 2010 and 2013 ATP Finals.

Both of Nadal’s second place finishes came in London. The first, he dropped to Federer and the second went to Djokovic. Currently, the Spanish superstar is the singles world No. 1 on the ATP World Tour. He will likely be considered the favorite to win the ATP Finals this year.

Rafael Nadal leads Roger Federer in their career head-to-head rivalry. The two tennis great have swapped Grand Slams in 2017 and also recently met in the Shanghai Masters finals. Nadal is yet to beat Federer since 2014, but that very fact may be a motivating factor for the current world No. 1. The two may need to advance into the semifinals round in order to face one another. They are sitting in the top two positions as of right now.

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The absence of both Murray and Djokovic is significant at this year’s finals. Federer’s previous win dates back to 2011. Djokovic then went on a four year title run at the ATP World Tour event. Other players in the field include rising stars Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev among others. The final two spots will likely be determined by play at the Vienna Open and the Swiss Indoors.

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Rafael Nadal is a 16-time Grand Slam singles winner, an Olympic champion, and the current world No. 1 in men’s singles tennis. Odds are that an ATP Finals title will be added to his resume at some point in the near future. That point may very well come this year at the O2 Arena in London. Stay tuned to see how Nadal fares in the coming weeks and who will round out the field of play at the 2017 ATP Finals.

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