Rafael Nadal Will Finally Triumph in ATP World Tour Finals Despite Indoor Arena

It is no secret that Rafael Nadal is not happy with the current ATP World Tour Finals format. For the past nine years, the Tour Finals have been indoors. Nadal has concurrently qualified in each of those years but has failed to come away victorious. His best run came in 2010 when he was beaten by Roger Federer in the final.

Nadal has been rather vocal about his displeasure with the format of the event, according to an interview with Ismail Vedat of ESPN:

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The Tour Finals have been indoors from 2005 until now, so I am a bit unlucky with this. For me it is more fair to have it outdoors on different surfaces. In this tournament we qualify by playing on all surfaces, but the Tour Finals are always on hard courts.

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Nadal continued:

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This is a great place to play, I have never been to a tournament with a better atmosphere, but that doesn't mean the ATP can't be a little bit more fair with the players. We could change every year to play it on the surfaces we qualify for the Finals. That means, for example, a good clay-court player would have the chance to play on his best surface.

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Despite his past struggles on the hard court, Nadal's recent play and upcoming schedule are factors that finally find him poised for success.

His first stroke of luck came when he landed in the easier of the two groups for this week's round-robin event in London. Federer, Novak Djokovic, Richard Gasquet and Juan Martin del Potro were all placed in group B, and Nadal found himself in a seemingly easier group A.

Being that Nadal cannot play any of these competitors until the semifinals on Sunday, he is awarded a better chance to advance while he acclimates himself with the court.

After his victory against David Ferrer on Tuesday, Nadal already seemed more comfortable, according to an interview with James Buddell of the ATP World Tour Finals' official website. Said Nadal, "I played a little calmer than other the day. In my opinion, he didn't have the chance to hit a winner as easy as he did three days ago."

Nadal will continue his favorable schedule against Stanislas Wawrinka—the ATP World Tour's eighth-ranked player—on Wednesday. If Nadal can do away with Wawrinka in a timely manner, his confidence will continue to grow—something that has been missing in this event in the past.

This is a very likely scenario, as Nadal has won all 11 of their previous encounters, including six played on hard courts. If Nadal does persevere, he will finish the year holding the No. 1 world ranking—another huge boost to his confidence level.

The resurgence of Nadal will be extremely difficult to contain once he gets a full head of steam. After all, with a 72-6 match record on the season after nursing a severe knee injury for seven months, Nadal's improbable comeback has certainly become one for the ages.

Nadal's improvements on the hard court since his injury clearly show that he does not need a change of court to finally come out on top in the ATP World Tour Finals this year. His current momentum will allow him to come away with this elusive victory. After all, a little confidence goes a long way.