Rafael Nadal said on Sunday that he “is not worried” about his history of injury withdrawals at the Paris Masters ahead of his latest bid to win the event for the first time, just three weeks after his 13th French Open title.
This will only be Nadal’s eighth appearance in the tournament at Bercy Arena, situated less than 14km across Paris from Roland Garros, and he has reached the final just once.
His last two visits have ended in injury, last year before a semi-final against Denis Shapovalov, and in 2017 ahead of a quarter-final with Filip Krajinovic.
“I am here to play my best and not to think about injuries, hopefully not,” said the 34-year-old.
“When I go to a tournament, I just focus on trying to play my best tennis. Not worry about if I got injured in the past that can happen again.
“It’s true that we are in different circumstances than previous years. But…