Rafael Nadal bemoaned at the number of hard court tournaments in the ATP calendar, while fully expecting Roger Federer to shrug off his recent bad run and qualify for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals.
Nadal has been one of the most frequent voices in tennis to hit out at the current ATP tour calendar, especially complaining about the number of events on the hard courts, and that is despite him enjoying one of the best seasons on the surface ever witnessed.
Nadal is an incredible 27-1 this year on hard courts, and has won three Masters titles, along with that U.S. Open crown; that though, has not changed the Spaniard's mindset one bit.
"I am really out of politics, and I don't want to be involved in politics of tennis anymore," he said ahead of his Shanghai Masters tournament bow. "I know even if you have strong ideas and even if you believe the changes are possible, I know there is always a wall there that is impossible to go over.
"What I am saying I am saying because it's something that I feel. If somebody from the ATP asks me, I will say the same things. But as always happened, nothing is going to change."
Onto a more happier vein though, Nadal could not be more thrilled with the way his comeback has materialised, with the culmination being him zooming all the way up to No.1 in the rankings.
"I thought that I would never have the chance to be back there," Nadal confessed. "Being No. 1 again is special.
"I was confident that when I was back I would have the chance to keep competing well, keep having chances to play for important tournaments, but I never thought about being back to No.1."
Nadal also backed his good friend Roger Federer to find his old form and seal his place in the World Tour Finals, with the 17-time Grand Slam champion currently all the way down at No.7 in the rankings.
"He's going to go, he's going to qualify. I am sure of that," Nadal said. "He is not going to have a problem. Even if he doesn't have lots of points of advantage, I feel he always played well in this last part of the season.
"He likes to play in these tournaments. He always had the positive results. I really feel that he will do it. He's a great player and I am sure he will be there and fighting for the title."
