Rafael Nadal has dropped out of the elite group of the men’s singles competition in tennis but that’s not stopping the Spaniard from playing a “couple of years” more as he stated in a recent interview.

"My goal is to keep enjoying playing tennis, I had a better career than I dreamed. Hopefully, a couple of years remain, I [want to] enjoy that as much as I can and I I [want to] keep working and to fight for what I want to fight," Nadal said via the YouTube channel of Australian Open TV.

While he has struggled in the past two years, Nadal remains one of the dangerous players in the ATP tour with a winning record before he fought various injuries that have caused him to drop in the world rankings. In 2013, Nadal won a total of 10 titles but has only won a combined 7 championships in 2014 and 2015.

Most recently, in the Asian swing of the ATP tour this season, Nadal made the final and semifinal of the China Open and Shanghai Masters, respectively but came up short in winning titles in those tournaments.

The 29-year-old Nadal is currently ranked no. 7 in the tennis rankings and not in the same level as old rivals Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, all of whom have been consistently ranked within top three of the world rankings in the last few years.

Nadal, who last won a Grand Slam title in 2014 when he bagged his ninth French Open title, recently stated in a separate interview that he’s satisfied with his recent performance in China and that he feels confident for the upcoming ATP season next year.

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