Fourteen-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal recently opened up about his mediocre 2015 season. According to Nadal, he would have bid farewell to the sporting world of tennis had his anxiety continued.

Nadal recently shared his thoughts on his difficult year in an interview with El Pais. The Mallorca native, who currently ranks fifth in the world, has had a late surge in 2015. The beginning of the year for Nadal had been tough as he had not been able to win tournaments. He suffered early exits in grand slam events and didn’t reach his only final appearance in a Masters 1000 event at the Mutua Madrid Open in May, where he lost to Andy Murray 6-3 6-2.

Nadal acknowledged that he had not done so well in the same tournaments that he had ruled in previous years. Despite that struggle, he revealed that he worked hard to turn things around and get back to his old winning form, which he was able to accomplish in the latter part of the year during the Asian swing.

Nadal reached the finals of the China Open but lost to Novak Djokovic 6-2 6-2. He also made it in the final four of the Shanghai Rolex Masters but lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 0-6 7-5.

At the Swiss Indoors Basel, Nadal also reached the final before losing to Roger Federer 6-3 5-7 6-3. Nadal reached the quarterfinals but lost to Stan Wawrinka 7-6(8) 7-6(7)) at the BNP Paris Masters. In the season-ending men’s tennis tournament at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, Nadal topped his group and reached the semifinals before losing to ensuing champion Djokovic 6-3 6-3.

The 29-year-old said he has been able to continue playing despite the obstacles he had faced this year, especially his anxiety. Nadal dropped to as low as World No. 10 in June, trailing behind players like Marin Cilic, Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori, David Ferrer and Tomas Berdych, his lowest ranking since April 2005. However, Nadal was still able to finish the year within the top five of the world rankings.

“In a year that has been difficult, I finished as the fifth in the world,” Nadal said. “What happens is that 20 years ago, being the fifth in the world in Spain was something fantastic and today it is very small.”

However, Nadal believes that finishing within the top five is still important. He said he doesn’t know if anyone has been able to do such feat for 11 consecutive years.

Meanwhile, Nadal, who only won three titles this year, is busy with his pre-season training, as seen on his posts on social media. He will begin his 2016 season at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships. Joining the Spanish tennis star are Djokovic, defending champion Murray, Raonic, Tsonga, Wawrinka, Ferrer and Kevin Anderson.

The tournament will be held at the International Tennis Centre in Abu Dhabi from Dec. 31, 2015 to Jan. 2, 2016. Nadal is a two-time champion after having won the tournament in 2010 and 2011.

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