Rafael Nadal reveals why he will never fight for the World No. 1 spot again

Rafael Nadal sunk to a second consecutive defeat at the 2022 ATP Finals, falling to Felix Auger-Aliassime 3-6, 4-6 in straight sets. With the World No. 1 spot on the line for the Spaniard this week, the defeat against the Canadian has all but ensured that Carlos Alcaraz will now finish as the year-end World No. 1 instead.

With a total of 209 weeks spent at the top of the ATP rankings table, the 22-time Grand Slam champion is the player with the sixth-most time spent as the World No. 1. However, his rivals in the GOAT debate - Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer - are much further ahead in this regard, with 373 and 310 weeks under their belt respectively.

Nadal most recently occupied the World No. 1 spot in February 2020, following which this week was his best chance of getting there again. With 2000 points to defend at the Australian Open next year, the Mallorcan regaining control of the position in the near future looks highly unlikely.

Speaking at his press conference after the loss against Auger-Aliassime, however, the World No. 2 did not seem too bothered about it, commenting that it was a goal he waas never following anyway.

"Probably you only heard one part of the answer. Of course, finish the season as World No. 1, it's a great achievement. Would be an amazing achievement at this stage of my career," Nadal said. "But on the other hand, I say that I will never be following that goal again."

The former World No. 1 went on to explain why, stating that at this point in his career, it was incredibly difficult for him to play as many tournaments as he used to. Even this year, the 36-year-old played only 13 tournaments, skipping many due to injury. Amongst those he played in, he was injured in a few as well, leaving very few events where he was able to compete as hard as he wanted.

"That happens, because the situation brings me to that position, fantastic. But my body, my age, my personal situation don't allow me to follow that goal any more, no? Winning two slams was not enough," he said. "Of course, was not enough because I was not able to play. I don't know how many tournaments I played, 10, 11, maybe 12. Finished maybe nine, 10, in good conditions."

Rafael Nadal explained the same, pointing to how it was not the same for young guys like Alcaraz and Felix Auger-Aliassime, who have the physical strength to play week-in and week-out. For comparison, Alcaraz played 17 tournaments all year, while Auger-Aliassime has played 25. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud, meanwhile, participated in 22 events respectively.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion went on to congratulate Alcaraz on his inevitable year-end World No. 1 finish after that, remarking that it was great news for Spanish tennis and that the teenager fully deserved the achievement.

"It's difficult comparing and fighting against the young guys that they are super good, and at the same time they are able to play as many tournaments as they want, no? Is normal they are in the situation I was, like, 15 years ago," Nadal said. "Just well done for Carlos in this case. Happy for him. Big achievement for him. Well done. Yeah, great news for our sport in Spain. Yeah, he deserved after a great season."

How can Rafael Nadal still qualify for the ATP Finals knockouts?

Rafael Nadal at the Nitto ATP Finals

After the loss against Felix Auger-Aliassime, Rafael Nadal's chances of qualifying for the 2022 ATP Finals knockouts are completely out of his hands. To remain alive in the tournament, the Spaniard will need Taylor Fritz to defeat Casper Ruud in straight sets in the second session on Tuesday.

Following that, he will have to beat Ruud soundly himself and then count on Fritz to beat Auger-Aliassime in the final group stage match, with enough of a margin that he has a better game win/loss record than both the Norwegian and the Canadian at the end of all this.