Rafael Nadal said he is once again “enjoying” tennis after a poor start to this season due to setbacks.

Nadal is gradually coming back to his top-form after his back-to-back final round appearances at the Shanghai Rolex Masters and the Swiss Indoors in Basel. Although he lost both final round matches at the two tournaments, the “King of Clay” showed a glimpse of his old form, when he was touted as world No. 1.

“The story now is different, no? I’m enjoying on the court,” Nadal said, reports The National. “I don’t have the nerves I had during the season.”

Nadal has struggled in the first eight months of the year, losing to the likes of Michael Berrer, Alexandra Dolgopolov, and Dustin Brown on his favourite clay surface. The 14-time Grand Slam winner also lost twice to Italian Fabio Fognini at Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona, prior to being eliminated by the latter in the third round of the US Open.

But as the season draws to an end, Nadal seems to regain his composure and overcome his mental challenges on the court. The fact that his career rival Roger Federer acknowledged that playing the Spaniard at 34 years of age is “fantastic” makes a testament of how Nadal is climbing back as a serious contender.

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray also believe Nadal is getting close to his best shape. ''The last few months he's started winning matches again and the ones he's been losing, most of them have been very close,'' Murray said, reports Tennis. ''He's getting back close to where he wants to be.''

Moreover, Nadal jumped a spot into fifth place at the Emirates ATP World Rankings after his quarterfinal finish at the BNP Paribas Masters with 4,630 points.

Nadal is set to compete at the Barclays ATP World Tour season finale and it seems all things are pointing to the Spaniard having another good outing in London.

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