Rafael Nadal is not certain he will return to his very best form and full fitness in 2023 – but he has no doubt he will give it his very best shot.
The veteran Spaniard went down 6-3 6-4 to Felix Auger-Aliassime on Tuesday at the ATP Finals, his second defeat in the round-robin group stage and a fourth consecutive loss overall.
This season began in stunning style for Nadal as he won the Australian Open and followed that with a 14th French Open title, taking his tally of grand slams to 22 - a record haul for a male singles player.
However, Nadal has a serious ongoing foot problem, and the 36-year-old had to withdraw from Wimbledon prior to a semi-final against Nick Kyrgios after suffering a torn abdomen.
Injuries have prevented him playing a full season, and he was clearly not at his best against Auger-Aliassime, who has Nadal's uncle, Toni Nadal, on his coaching team.
Asked whether he will take an optimistic or doubtful approach into next season, Nadal said: "You can be both ways. You can be optimistic and have doubts. Why not?
"For me the doubts, as I said plenty of times, are very good in this world. People who don't have doubts, it is probably because they are too arrogant, from my point of view.
"If you are not optimistic or positive, it's impossible that things are going to go the proper way. That's my point of view and that's my approach."
He will hope to make a strong start to the new campaign in Australia, and will put in the work to give himself every chance of showing up in shape to win again.
"I just need to recover all these positive feelings and all this confidence and all this strong mentality that I need to be at the level that I want to be," Nadal said.
"And I don't know if I'm going to reach that level again. But what I don't have any doubt about is that I'm going to die for it."
He will round off his round-robin campaign against Casper Ruud in Turin on Thursday, facing the young Norwegian he crushed in the French Open final.
Once he returns to his Mallorca home, Nadal can look at what lies ahead.
"What can happen in Australia? I don't know. It's a month and a half away," Nadal said.
"What can I do to give myself a positive chance to have a good season next year? As always, be humble enough to accept that I have a challenge in front, that the last six months have been very difficult for me.
"I need to work more and I need to recover things that I lost because I was not able to practice the proper way, I was not able to compete the proper way.
"What I have to do now is come back, work hard, stay positive every single day, accept the challenge, accept that I am going to need to suffer a little bit more."
Alcaraz continues fine form at Miami Open, Ruud eliminated by Van De Zandschulp
Top seed and reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz dished out a bagel as he continued his outstanding form with a straight-sets victory over Dusan Lajovic to ease into the Miami Open fourth round on Sunday.
Alcaraz, who triumphed at last week's Indian Wells Open, beat the 76th-ranked Serbian 6-0 7-6 (7-5) in one hour and 32 minutes.
The 19-year-old Spaniard hit 26 winners compared to Lajovic's eight, while Alcaraz also sent down three aces on a 75 per cent first serve percentage.
Alcaraz won the first frame to love in 32 minutes, registering his fourth career bagel at ATP Masters 1000 level, equaling the most by a teenager alongside Rafael Nadal.
The world number one will face 2023 Australian Open semi-finalist Tommy Paul in the fourth round after the American got past 20th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 7-5.
Third seed and 2022 Miami Open finalist Casper Ruud blew a first-set lead to lose 3-6 6-4 6-4 to Botic Van De Zandschulp.
The Dutchman improved his head-to-head record against Ruud to 3-1 with his first-ever top five win, with the Norwegian left to lament converting only two of 15 break points.
Ninth seed Taylor Fritz progressed into the fourth round with a 6-4 6-4 win over Denis Shapovalov, improving his head-to-head record against the Canadian to 4-5. Fritz committed only eight unforced errors and did not face one break point.
Jannik Sinner maintained his excellent hard-court form with his 18th win this season on the surface, as he defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 28 minutes. The Italian 10th seed will be Andrey Rublev in the next round.
Sixth seed Rublev needed less than an hour to get past Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1 6-2, while compatriot Daniil Medvedev advanced via a walkover against Alex Molcan due to a right hip injury.
Seventh seed Holger Rune cruised past Diego Schwartzman 6-4 6-2, while Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori got past Taro Daniel 6-3 7-6 (7-3).
Sabalenka marches into Miami Open fourth round, Andreescu continues run with Kenin win
Aryna Sabalenka needed just 68 minutes to dispatch Marie Bouzkova 6-1 6-2 in Sunday's third round of the Miami Open.
Sabalenka hit 26 winners in the victory and now has 250 at WTA 1000 level for the season, representing one of only two female players with more than 200 in 2023.
The world number two, who is the top seed in the tournament after Iga Swiatek's withdrawal, has now won 19 of her past 21 matches, with her only losses in that span to Elena Rybakina and Barbora Krejcikova.
She will get the chance to avenge that loss to Krejcikova next after the Czech Republic representative knocked out hometown star Madison Keys 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.
Former French Open winner Krejcikova registered her 10th WTA 1000 level win against Keys, becoming only the second player to achieve that this season.
Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin fell 6-4 6-4 to Canada's Bianca Andreescu, who continued her strong run after previously knocking out seventh seed Maria Sakkari and 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu.
In a serve-dominated match, 2019 US Open champion Andreescu sent down seven aces, maintaining 70 per cent first serve percentage.
Ninth seed and former Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic was eliminated 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 by 18th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, who will take on Andreescu in the next round.
Marketa Vondrousova won her all-Czech matchup against 17th seed Karolina Pliskova, and their compatriot Petra Kvitova enjoyed a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) triumph over recent Monterrey Open champion Donna Vekic.
Romania's Sorana Cirstea made it seven wins from her past eight matches with a 7-5 6-1 result over Karolina Muchova, having knocked off fifth seed Caroline Garcia in the second round.
Varvara Gracheva ensured a strong day for the Russians with a 6-1 6-2 demolition of Magdalena Frech in a battle of two unseeded players.
Rybakina extends winning streak to 10, Potapova upsets Gauff in Miami Open third round
Last week's Indian Wells Open champion Elena Rybakina has extended her winning streak to 10 matches after defeating Paula Badosa 3-6 7-5 6-3 in Saturday's Miami Open third round.
Kazakhstan's Rybakina, who is also the reigning Wimbledon Champion and Australian Open finalist, got the better of Badosa for the second time during her current run, also eliminating her from Indian Wells.
The 23-year-old has to be considered one of the favourites to go all the way, having knocked off world number one Iga Swiatek and world number two Aryna Sabalenka to lift the trophy in California.
Rybakina will meet Belgium's Elise Mertens in the fourth round after she beat Croatia's Petra Martic 6-4 6-3.
Meanwhile, the biggest upset of the day was delivered by Russia's Anastasia Potapova, bouncing sixth seed Coco Gauff 6-7 (8-10) 7-5 6-2.
Potapova, who has never won a tournament above the WTA 250 level, will face China's Zheng Qinwen for a spot in the quarter-finals after her three-hour 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 triumph over Liudmila Samsonova.
Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko, the 24th seed, eliminated Brazilian 13th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-2 4-6 6-3, while 20th seed Magda Linette of Poland knocked out Belarusian 14th seed Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (7-3) 2-6 6-4.
Unseeded American Clare Liu went down 4-6 7-5 6-4 against Italy's Martina Trevisan, but third seed Jessica Pegula will continue to fly the flag for the United States after advancing 6-1 7-6 (7-0) in her all-American showdown with Danielle Collins.
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