Rafael Nadal isn't sure if he can surpass Novak Djokovic in the rankings next season, but he has no doubt about how he will try to revive his ranking.
After falling to Djokovic for the seventh time in their last eight meetings in the Beijing final on Sunday, Nadal said he will focus on improving his game rather than trying to surpass the world No. 1.
Video: Good Stan, Bad Stan, Smiling Stan
"(It) Is obvious that today he is the best, and that's it. What going in the future, nobody knows," Nadal said when asked if he can catch the top-ranked Serbian. "I going to fight. I going to do my way. When I am working, when I was No. 2 and Roger was No.1, was not my obsession to catch Roger. My obsession was to improve my game and do my way.
"For me is the same thing today. My motivation is keep going, do my way, and I have been that already. I know if I am playing well again, then I can fight. If I can fight, I can compete well times in a row against the best players, then normally I was a good competitor. So I think I going to be good competitor again if I recover my level."
It was the most lopsided scoreline between the rivals since Nadal swept Djokovic, 6-3, 6-1, in the 2012 Monte Carlo final. Despite the loss, Nadal said he was encouraged by his performance in his first hard-court final since losing to Djokovic in the 2014 Miami final.
"I take a lot of positive things from the match of today, that's it. Is nothing that I have to learn of Novak," Nadal said. "Different styles of game. As I said before, he's the best today without any doubt. I repeat what I said: I do my way. When somebody's playing like Novak, is very difficult to beat, especially in his favorite surface. Just accept that he's better today.
"But, seriously, the result was easy for him. The feeling was not that easy. That's positive for me. After the match, I am more happy than before the match. Even if I lost 6-2, 6-2, sounds strange, but that's my real feeling."
Photo credit: China Open