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SHANGHAI ROLEX MASTERS

October 12, 2016

Rafael Nadal

Shanghai, China

V. TROICKI/R. Nadal

6-3, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You were trying your hardest at practice and during the matches but it's not going your way for now. After Beijing, what do you think about the match you played today?
RAFAEL NADAL: Well, I played against a player that his serve was huge during the whole time. No, I played better than in Beijing but was not the day to win.

He played better than me. He deserve to win more than me, and I need to keep working, need to adjust things, need to put the things together.

And I need to be confident again, no? I need to play my matches, to practice more and just to keep playing. That's all. I think is the end of the season, is being tough part of the season for me. The tournaments are difficult. Surfaces are difficult for me and is difficult at the end of the year historically. I suffer at this part of the season. Normally when I arrive playing so good, this year after the injury had been a little bit tougher if I play some good matches, but I have been tough to be confident.

I am trying, no? I tried. I tried during the whole time but I lost. That's it.

Q. Do you think the defeat against Pouille in US Open makes maybe a difference for the end of the season or in terms of confidence?
RAFAEL NADAL: Things change. Things can change with one victory or two more victories, but it's stupid to look to the past, always look at the things that you cannot change. Is better to look at the things that you really can change.

No, if you are thinking about if I didn't get injury, if I won the match against Pouille, if I win the match against Del Potro in the Olympics, that's never happened and never gonna happen. That's already past. We have to look about the day of tomorrow and then the day after tomorrow. And that's the only way to change things, and that's the only way to try to be at the level that I need to be to compete around the world.

Q. Have you and your team sat down to look at what's technically different about your game? Are the balls falling shorter? Less spin or less pace than compared to years before?
RAFAEL NADAL: I know what I have to do and I gonna do it. I have two months and a half since the next season start, so I have two months and a half to put myself at the level that I need to be, and I have the confidence that I gonna do it.

For me the season is almost over, and I accept that. Since the day after day just looking about what I need to do to be 100% ready for the beginning of the next season, no?

That's my motivation; that's my goal. I gonna do all the things that I need to do to make that happen. I cannot say I gonna make that happen. The only thing that I can say is I gonna do and I gonna try my best in every single moment to make that thing happen.

Q. The race for the Masters not so important for you? You think most for the next season now?
RAFAEL NADAL: I don't know. I don't know what's gonna happen in the next couple of weeks. Is something that I need to think about, and let's see.

I cannot say now what I gonna do during the next month. I'm not sure about my calendar. I'm not sure about the things that I need to do to try to be at 100% ready for the next year.

I need to speak with my team. I need to speak with my uncle, too, and prepare myself for calendar to try to do the things that I need to do and to work on things I need to work, because sometimes keep competing is not the solution. Sometimes the solution is practice and stop and have a process of training. And maybe that's an opportunity to do it. I'm not sure about that.

Maybe I gonna play in Basel in two weeks. So it's not the day and not the moment to analyze all these kind of things.

But I am a person who -- you know, the losers or the victories doesn't change a lot the mind. Let's see when I'm talking about the coach.

Q. Have you thought of working with a mind coach, or is that part of your program?
RAFAEL NADAL: No.

Q. When you say you need to make some adjustments and to work on things, can you just tell what kind of area of your game or fitness or whatever you're thinking of when you say that?
RAFAEL NADAL: I need to recover the forehand. I know I need to hit forehands. I need to -- every time that I hit the forehand, I need to create pain to the opponent, something that is not happening today. Maybe because I had an injury on the wrist and I am scared. Maybe because I still have some limitation in there.

But at the end of the day, nobody cares about that and I don't care about that. The real thing that I care is I need to create pain with my forehand to opponent. No, is something that is not happening very often now, and is something that needs to happen for the next year.

So I need to know what's the best way to try to make that happen. If that happens, then for sure I need to recover a little bit the electricity on the legs. Need to move faster to hit more forehands. But I need to be more confident with the forehand to make that happen. Everything is a cycle. I need to do the things together.

Q. You have great achievement in terms of doubles matches. Will you focus more on doubles matches in the future?
RAFAEL NADAL: No. I am not a doubles player. I am a singles player.

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