No longer fighting for the top ranking, says Nadal

Nadal has achieved the coveted year-end No. 1 ranking five times

Rafael Nadal is a different man. He’s losing sleep over his newborn baby and not so much the No. 1 ranking.

Even with all of his absences, Nadal has a shot at finishing the season as the world No. 1. He has racked up 5,820 points, trailing only the top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who has 6,650. But Nadal made clear on Tuesday what his priorities were when he was peppered with questions about fighting for the year-end No. 1 spot.

There will be no fight.

Nadal has achieved the coveted year-end No. 1 ranking five times, tied with Roger Federer, and trailing only Novak Djokovic (7) and Pete Sampras (6).

“I don’t fight to be No. 1,” Nadal said at a Paris Masters news conference. “Something that I said since long time ago: I will not fight anymore to be No. 1. I did in the past. I achieved that goal a couple of times in my career that I have been very, very happy and proud about. But I am in a moment of my tennis career that I don’t fight to be No. 1.”

For now, he wants to be a No. 1 dad.

He's come to Paris for his first tournament since his wife Maria Francisca Perello gave birth to their first child — a boy — in early October. Nadal admitted he's approaching things differently now that he's a father.