"Would not be fair I play here with higher motivation than in Monte-Carlo" - When Rafael Nadal commented on Shanghai Masters title drought

Rafael Nadal spoke about his inability to win a single title at the Shanghai Masters after losing to Roger Federer in the 2017 final.

The Spaniard entered the tournament seeded following wins over Jared Donaldson, Fabio Fognini, sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov and fourth seed Marin Cilic. Here, he faced his rival and second seed Roger Federer.

The Swiss put on a fine performance to win 6-4, 6-3 and claim his second title in Shanghai. It was Federer's fourth win in as many matches against Nadal in 2017 and his fifth consecutive victory over his rival.

The Spaniard was asked in his post-match press conference if a lack of a title at the Shanghai Masters served as more of a motivation to compete in the following year. The then-World No. 1 responded by claiming that he plays in every tournament with as much motivation as he can.

Nadal also cited the example of the Monte-Carlo Masters, claiming that it would not be fair for him to play with more motivation in Shanghai than at the clay-court event since he won ten titles at the latter and none at the former.

"No, no, no, I just play every tournament with as high motivation as possible. It would not be fair I play here with higher motivation than in Monte-Carlo because I didn't win here and I won in Monte-Carlo 10 times," the Spaniard said.

The 2017 Shanghai Masters between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer was their last meeting in a final.

Rafael Nadal won 15 out of 22 matches at the Shanghai Masters

Rafael Nadal in action at the 2017 Shanghai Masters

Rafael Nadal competed in eight editions of the Shanghai Masters, winning 15 out of 22 matches. However, he was unable to win a single title at the Masters 1000 event.

The Spaniard featured in the inaugural edition of the tournament where he was the top seed and reached the final following wins over James Blake, Tommy Robredo, Ivan Ljubicic and Feliciano Lopez. Here, he was beaten 7-6 (3), 6-3 by sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko.

Nadal suffered third-round exits in 2010 and 2011 before missing the 2012 edition. He was seeded second at the 2013 Shanghai Masters and reached the semifinals before losing to eventual runner-up Juan Martin del Potro. The Spaniard lost in the second round in 2014 before enduring another semifinal defeat in 2015, being beaten by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

After suffering a second-round elimination, Nadal competed in what is his final appearance in Shanghai in 2017.