Rafael Nadal revealed having a “fear of failure” for the first time in his 11-year tennis career after mightily struggling in the first of half of his 2015 campaign.

Nadal said that for the first time, he felt the fear of not being able to play tennis and pointed out the mental challenge that had kept him from being the 14-time Grand Slam winner that he is. “For the first time in my career I went on the court with 'fear of failure,'” Nadal said, reports Tennis World USA. “Not of losing, but of not being able to play.”

Nadal, who has not won any major title this year, struggled to score wins in major tennis events, losing the Australian Open quarterfinals to Tomas Berdych and the French Open to Novak Djokovic, both in straight sets. The “King of Clay” also lost in the second round at the Wimbledon against Dustin Brown in four sets and suffered an early exit at the US Open against Fabio Fognini.

However, Nadal was able to show a glimpse of his elite form at the China Open and Swiss Indoors, only to get defeated by Djokovic and Federer, respectively. Nadal also came close to ending the 2015 season with a major title after defeating all his opponents in the round-robin stage of the ATP World Tours in London before being eliminated by the Serb in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Nadal is convinced he is in great shape for his 2016 campaign. The 29-year-old Nadal will start his season at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, where he will be joined by his compatriot David Ferrer, World No. 4 Stan Wawrinka and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

“Coming to Abu Dhabi for the Mubadala World Tennis Championship is always special, it is the perfect preparation for me to get ready for a new season,” Nadal said, reports The National. “I feel in great shape so it should be [an] incredible experience for me, for the other players and of course for the fans coming out to support us.”

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