Nadal says he is getting closer to Djokovic

Rafael Nadal believes he is getting closer to matching Novak Djokovic despite his heavy defeat to the world number one at the China Open last week.

Nadal, a 14-time grand slam champion, was beaten 6-2 6-2 by Djokovic in last Sunday’s final as the Serb claimed his eighth title of a dominant 2015 that has seen him win three of the four majors.

Attention now turns to the Shanghai Masters, where Nadal will be aiming to go one better and win his first ATP Masters 1000 title since last year’s Madrid Open, with another showpiece meeting with Djokovic a possibility.

And the world number seven does so confident he is making strides, saying: “Even the final [of the China Open] was a positive one. I lost 6-2 6-2 but the result I believe was not fair.

“Even if Novak today is in another level I believe I was much closer than what the result says.

“The whole week was a very positive week, I played better every single day and I did a lot of very good things in terms of level of tennis, in terms of position on court and that’s very important for me.”