Rafael Nadal is ready to consolidate his year-end No 1 ATP ranking by winning his opening match at the Paris Masters.
The 31-year-old Spaniard, who reclaimed the top ranking in August for the first time in three years, is due to start at Bercy against South Korea’s Hyeon Chung, who opened with a 6-0 6-2 first-round defeat of Mischa Zverev from Germany on Monday.
Roger Federer announced late on Sunday afternoon that he would be skipping the tournament after winning back-to-back titles in Shanghai and Basel.
The Swiss superstar has opted for rest and recuperation ahead of the ATP Finals, which starts in less than a fortnight in London, handing Nadal the chance to finish the season as No 1 for a fourth time in his career.
But Nadal has refused to hype up his potential coronation, saying: “I need to win a match. I’m here to try my best – as in every tournament.
“Hopefully if this [number one] happens, it will be something important for me.
“But the season is not over and it’s not the moment to think much about that.
“I’ll just try to think about trying to have the right preparation for the tournament and then try to be ready for the first match.”
Nadal, who withdrew from Basel with a knee problem, does not fault Federer for looking after personal interests.
The 36-year-old had reduced the points gap on the Spaniard to 1,460 points with 1000 points on offer in Paris and a further 1,500 available in London for winning the title.
“Everyone makes the calendar which he thinks will be the best for him,” Nadal said. “For him, everything was working well that way. He had a little bit better chance, of course, if he came here. But you never know.
“You would think that he would have more points if he had played on clay. But you never know [that] if he played on clay if he would win Wimbledon or he would be able to play as well as he did.
“He took his decisions and he did it well. Probably after winning Shanghai and winning Basel he believes that will be better for his body and for his preparation for London to not be here, to rest.”
