Nadal worry for London
RAFAEL NADAL’S participation at the ATP Finals in London could be in doubt after he pulled out of the Paris Masters with knee problems.
The world No1 had his right knee strapped during his third-round win over Pablo Cuevas on Thursday and struggled with his movement.
Nadal played down the issue after the match but withdrew from his scheduled quarter-final against Filip Krajinovic.
Nadal said: “The pain during the match was too much but it was not the moment to stop.
“I don’t like to stop during the match, especially when winning. But being honest with the tournament, being honest with my opponents and being honest with myself, the way that I am today, I don’t see myself playing three more matches here.” There must be serious questions over whether Nadal will now risk making the injury worse by playing at the O2 Arena in the end-ofseason tournament that begins on November 12.
Nadal said: “I cannot talk about London now. I am sad to pull out from here.
“The only thing I can say is I’m going to try my best to be in London.” TRIPLE world champion Jonathan Rea continued his domination with a comfortable win in last night’s opener to the Qatar final round.
The Kawasaki rider finished 4.944secs ahead of Chaz Davies, whose Ducati team-mate Marco Melandri ran third.
“Incredible, this has ticked all of the boxes. The whole team have worked so hard for this. I’m living the dream,” said Rea.