Nadal contemplates ending season after Shanghai loss

Rafael Nadal fought as hard as he could to prolong his stay in China, but came up short.

The Spaniard’s late-season struggles continued as he fell to Viktor Troicki 6-3 7-6(3) in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Wednesday.

The result prompted the Spaniard to contemplate shutting his season down early.

Nadal has a chance to clinch a spot in the ATP finals – he currently sits in seventh position for the eight-man field – but he was unsure at this point if he wanted to prolong his season.

”I cannot say now what I’m going (to) do during the next month,” he said. ”Sometimes (to) keep competing is not the solution. Sometimes the solution is practice … and have a process of training. And maybe that’s an opportunity to do it.”

The fourth-seeded Nadal struggled to create depth and pace with his forehand, a problem he attributed to the wrist injury that sidelined him for part of the season.

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His goal now is to be back in peak condition for the Australian Open at the start of the new year.

”I have two months and a half to put myself at the level that I need to be,” Nadal said, ”and I have the confidence that I’m going to do it.”