Nadal is keen to recover fully before travelling to Australia
Rafael Nadal's Doha campaign ended in the semi-finals after struggling all week with a fever
Nadal has been suffering with a bad fever all week and has been on medication for several days so it was a fantastic achievement to even make the last four. He has always had problems against Davydenko and the on-form Russian took full advantage of his weakened state, winning eight straight games at one point, on the way to his 6-3, 6-2 win.
Nadal said that he considered retiring at one point but ever the exemplary sportsman, quitting is not his style.
“I thought about retiring for a moment. I had no chance to win the match," Nadal said. "I knew that after four games, five games. I felt real bad, but, you know, is difficult for me to go off court. It's not nice for the crowd, not nice for the tournament, not nice for the opponent, too, no?"
Miraculously Nadal returned on court later in the day for the doubles final and amazingly managed to win that title with Marc Lopez. He will remain in Doha for the next couple of days and try to recover fully from the illness.
"I stay here because I have to get healthy before I travel," he said. "Going by plane sometimes makes you worse. And at the same time I don't have anything to do right now in Australia."
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