I know how to beat inform Djokovic – Nadal

Rafael Nadal was delighted to close his Group Ilie Nastasie fixtures at the ATP World Tour Finals with a third straight victory against David Ferrer.

Nadal had already guaranteed top spot ahead of the meeting with his compatriot, but came out on top 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 6-4 to complete a fine round-robin phase.

He was elated with his strong displays at the O2 Arena after a difficult season in which he failed to make the semi-finals of a grand slam for the first time since 2004.

“For me it was another opportunity to compete. I think I competed well,” Nadal said.

“I won a very tough match. I think it was a very good match in terms of quality for moments.

“I am very happy. Three straight wins against top-eight players, that is great news for me.”

Nadal will meet world number one Novak Djokovic in the semi-final on Saturday and is looking forward to the challenge and is positive about next season.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. It is going to be a really difficult match against a player who is playing just better,” he continued

“It’s another opportunity to compete against the best, to see if I am able to compete at a very high level again.

“But for me the main thing is to keep going the same way, keep practicing the same way, to try to start next year with that energy that I have today.

“If I am able to keep playing like this, I think next year can be a positive year for me.

“Against Novak, I know what I have to do, but it will be very difficult to do it – it’s a big challenge.

“I am going to try to play my game. I am going to try to play aggressively, to be strong mentally.

“But for sure I would love to win here at the World Tour Finals. It’s true that it’s always a very, very difficult thing to make that happen. But we’ll see, I am going to keep fighting.”