Rafael Nadal: “World Number One is Not My Main Goal”

Rafael Nadal battled past through a thrilling five-setter 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4 against the first time Grand Slam finalist, Daniil Medvedev to claim his fourth title at the US Open 2019 on Sunday.

The victory also puts the Spaniard at 2,000 points lead in the race to end the season as a top-ranked player in the ATP rankings. With this win, Rafael Nadal also closes the gap with Novak Djokovic in the ATP rankings with only 640 points behind the world No.1.

However, the Spaniard revealed in the post-match press conference that to be the world No.1 is not his main goal.

“I don’t compete for it. I just do my way. If I am able to be No. 1 doing my way, great. But I always say the same: today is not my main goal. Of course, is great to be in that fight. But for me personally, is not really a fight,” the 33-year-old said.

The Mallorcan retained that fighting for the No.2 spot in the ATP rankings is not a priority for him at this stage of his career as he plays fewer events.

He continued, “I just try to be competitive the weeks that I need to compete, or the weeks that I want to compete With my age and with my goals, I cannot lose energy or time to follow the No. 1. I need to think about my career in a different way.”

Rafael Nadal further added, “For me, my main goal is to play as long as possible and compete, being competitive. Sometimes if you need to follow the No. 1, you going to lose years of your career But I am there.”

The 19-time Grand Slam champion explained that if he can have a reach the top spot in the ATP rankings if he is able to play well till the end of the season. “If I am able to play well until the end of the season, I going to have my chances,” Nadal said. “That going to be amazing. But I always say the same: is not my main goal today.”

The Serbian is dealing with a shoulder injury and Rafael Nadal may become world No. 1 again for the fifth time in his career as Novak Djokovic has a lot of points to defend in the coming tournaments.

The 32-year-old is the defending champion at the Shanghai Masters and defending runner-up at the Paris Masters and ATP Finals.