Nadal back on court, getting ready for next season

Rafael Nadal of Spain attends a press conference at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai, east China, Oct. 10, 2016. (Xinhua/Fan Jun)

SHANGHAI, Oct. 10 -- Some of the big names in world tennis meet in Shanghai for the 2016 Shanghai Rolex Masters, and Rafael Nadal said Monday that he would do well in the tournament and get ready for the next season.

The popular Spaniard who won the Olympic doubles gold medal, told the press here, "It has been a difficult moment of the year, and I am trying to finish well and try to be ready again for the next season. That's my real goal."

Nadal was satisfied with his performance during three hours' practice on court today. "We are trying to realize what we need to work more for the next couple of months and to be ready again for the beginning of the season," he said. "I speak with my coach about the things that we need to prepare for the future, not only for the immediate practice."

Having been seriously injured this year, the Spanish legend revealed his goal was to finish the season in the best possible way. "It's tough to be back, especially when you are back and still with pain," Nadal said Monday afternoon. "But as always, just keep working hard as I did today, as I did yesterday, as I do every day to recover the level of my tennis before the injury."

When asked about the best thing about being a tennis player at his level, he said: "the most beautiful thing, I think, is that you go around the world and you feel the love of the people; you go on the court and you feel the support of the people."

In response to Novak's comment on not finding joy and happiness in tennis, Nadal said happiness for himself comes in various forms besides tennis.

"It's true that tennis has been for the last 20 years an important part of my life, for sure, but in life there are a lot of more important things than just the game," he said.

According to the draw, top seed Novak Djokovic is joined by fourth seed Rafael Nadal in the top half of the draw, with second seed Andy Murray projected to face off against third seed Stan Wawrinka in the other semifinal.

Sunday the world No. 1 and Shanghai Rolex Masters titleholder Novak Djokovic and world No. 3 and US Open champion Stan Wawrinka both met with the press.

"There is certainly something different when you' re playing against, practicing with a top player, because the quality of the training is obviously very high," Djokovic said. "I like always to train with Stan especially because we have a very friendly relationship and we get to train quite often, especially before big tournaments."

Djokovic said his priorities are no longer the titles at the majors or the No. 1 ranking and with that he spoke of his motivation.

"The last three months were up and down a little bit with oscillations, but generally I didn' t find that kind of satisfaction on the court, which is the very reason and the source of my motivation to play the tennis," Djokovic said.

Wawrinka, meanwhile who won his third career major a month ago at the US Open, says he feels good coming into the Shanghai Rolex Masters: "So far I' m quite happy with the practice. I would say (the courts are) a little bit faster than last year, but in general I'm feeling good."

He has twice reached the quarterfinals in Shanghai in six appearances, and spoke of how much he enjoys playing here.

"Always enjoy to come back," Wawrinka said. "I think we have a chance that the tournament is doing amazing job first for the player, not only on-site but also off-site if we want to discover the city, if we want to go to nice restaurant. So I always enjoy my time here, for sure."

On Sunday evening, Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych attended the "Masters on the Bund" reception. The two tennis players went on a boat tour of Huangpu River and experienced a special tennis match in the form of Chinese traditional shadow puppetry.