Rafael Nadal has determined that chasing the world's No. 1 ranking is hazardous to his health.
Tennis.com is reporting that the 14-time Grand Slam champion whose 2014 was disrupted by different injuries, revealed in an interview with French television that shooting for No. 1 no longer is a course he will pursue.
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"For me it won't be a goal in my career anymore," Nadal told French television in an interview that tennis.com reported promoted his new tennis academy. "If I have become No. 1 because of the results I have, it's great. But I'm not going to pursue this objective. I will follow my schedule."
According to tennis.com, that means that Nadal could play fewer events in 2015, which would hurt his chances of accumulating enough points to reclaim the top ranking.
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The news comes on the heels of a 2014 season in which he suffered a back injury in the finals of the Australian Open. A wrist injury then forced him to miss the U.S. Open and he tried to play with appendicitis before shutting down prior to the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals.
Bleacher Report added that Nadal has missed five Grand Slam events due to injury: the 2006 Australian Open with a foot injury, Wimbledon 2009 with tendinitis in his knee, the 2012 U.S. Open with a knee injury, the 2013 Australian Open with an illness and the 2014 U.S. Open with the right wrist injury.
That forced Nadal, who entered 2014 as the No. 1 player in the world, to fall behind Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
The 28-year-old Spaniard said his priority now is to play as long as he can.
"My big goal is to play as many years as possible," Nadal said in the interview. "What I won't do is put at risk the best years of my career to get the No. 1 spot."
Nadal recently declared himself fit after undergoing an appendectomy which also allowed him to fully recover from the back and wrist injuries.
He remains three Grand Slam wins behind Roger Federer for the all-time lead. If Nadal can surpass Federer, how odd that he could still be considered the greatest tennis player ever but not be No. 1 if and when he were to pass Federer.
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