RAFA NADAL will end the year as World No.1 after victory over Stanislas Wawrinka at the ATP World Tour Finals at London's 02 Arena yesterday.

      

The Spaniard won 7-6 7-6 to grab a semi-final place and guarantee he cannot be overtaken by No.2 Novak Djokovic.


It will be the third time Nadal, who called it "the perfect scenario," has finished a year on top.
No wonder the 27-yearold 13-time Grand Slam champion was celebrating. He had been out with career-threatening knee trouble for seven months since mid-2012.
"There are a lot of emotions today," he said. "I was a bit lucky but I'm happy to be through to the semi-finals in the last tournament of the year.

"After missing this tournament last year, it's been an unbelievable comeback year.
"Being No.1 at end of the season is something really difficult as there are some unbelievable competitors out there. But without my team behind me, it would be hard to think about achieving this."
Two straight-sets wins within 24 hours have seen Nadal qualify from the group as efficiently as possible. He remains on track to land the most significant title missing from his CV.