Nadal hopeful of taking part in London

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World number one Rafael Nadal is confident he will be fit to take part in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London later this month.

The Spaniard has been forced out of the final ATP 1000 Masters event in Paris this week due to tendonitis in his left shoulder but he is adamant he will be okay to head the eight-man line-up at the O2 when the season-ending tournament gets under way on November 21.

Nadal said today in Paris: "For sure, (it is) disappointing not to be (playing) here. It is the last Masters 1000 of the year, and one of my favourite tournaments. So it was not an easy decision.

"The injury is not a big problem but I have to be careful, because if I had an injury now it could be difficult to play London and to play well at the beginning of the season next year."

Nadal lost all three round-robin matches in London last year and failed to qualify for the next phase.

He added: "It is a goal for me to try to improve the image of last year in London. I think I am focused to try to do this.

"We will see what happens; I am focused on trying to play well there.

"It is probably the most difficult surface against the most difficult opponents for me, so probably is the most difficult tournament for me to win during the year."

Nadal won the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in 2010 in another wonderful year.

He was the first man to qualify for the World Tour finals and will be joined by Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Robin Soderling. Another six players are still fighting it out for the remaining three spots.