Nadal says mental strength has returned

However, with Roger Federer opting to play at this year’s event and considering that Rafael Nadal has not had the best of seasons, the Spaniard has been drawn in the lower half with the only threat being Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who is the defending champion from last year.

The 29-year-old former world number one and 14-time major victor said that he will hang up his racquet only when he has lost the thrill of playing the sport. Let’s hope it proves so, at least, because tennis has been poorer this season for his absence from the top table.

“For sure, there is more behind than in front in my career”.

“It’s always about adapting your tennis”, he told the ATP’s website about. >Sport24. “But I don’t think about retirement”. In 2005, I was aged 19 and I’m sure that I won’t be playing tennis until 39. But when it comes, I will know. “But until that day arrives, I’m here and enjoying it”.

At his peaks in 2015 – admittedly a rare sight – Nadal has looked physically and technically excellent, but his inability to sustain that level has been borderline shocking at times, particularly in the string of defeats that saw him lose his French Open crown and bow out early at Wimbledon.

Seeded seventh, Nadal hopes to keep the momentum heading to Montreal after claiming his first hardcourt title this season in Hungary.

Nadal will begin his Montreal campaign against either wild card Filip Peliwo or Sergiy Stakhovsky.