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November 26, 2011

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Passion missing, admits Spaniard

FORMER world No. 1 Rafael Nadal admitted he has struggled of late to rekindle his passion for tennis on Thursday after defeat by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sent him spinning out of the ATP World Tour Finals at the group stage.

The 25-year-old Spaniard ended 2010 as the dominant force in men's tennis after completing his career grand slam but apart from a sixth French Open crown in June, this year has been a disappointing one by his sky-high standards.

"Seriously I could talk for one hour about that," the 10-time grand slam champion said.

"It's because of lots of things. Because probably I was little bit less passionate for the game, probably I was a little bit more tired than usual.

"I'm happy how I practised the last three weeks. But to compete I wasn't in the right way. We can find excuses, we can find problems, but it's not the moment to say that.

"In your career you have moments where you come back, then you go down. Today is not my best moment."

While one grand slam title and defeats in the Wimbledon and US Open finals would be rated as a massive achievement by mere mortals, 2011 will certainly not be one he looks back on particularly fondly. However, he said after trying to win the Davis Cup for Spain in Seville next weekend he would get himself ready to come back firing at the Australian Open in January.

"I'm going to continue with the right practice like I had the last three weeks," he said. "That's the only way to try to arrive to the 2012 season. I'll try to arrive in 2012 in very good condition. I'm going to do all I can to be perfect for the beginning of 2012."

 

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