Nadal reiterates hard work pledge for strong 2016 season

World number five Rafael Nadal has insisted that he will work hard to continue his late-season resurgence next year despite enduring a modest 2015 season.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion, who slumped to 10th in the rankings in June, failed to win any of the sport's four grand slams for the first time since 2004 but finished the year on a much improved note, making couple of finals before reaching the semis at the season-ending ATP World Tour in London.

"2015 has been not the best season possible. The last three months, I think it was much better," Nadal, who is representing Indian Aces, told reporters ahead of the opening International Premier Tennis League match in New Delhi.

"I'm happy the way that I'm playing now. I need to keep going. I want to keep going the same way that I finished the 2015 season. That's the way I'm going to keep working hard to try and continue with that level of the game," the Spaniard added.

The Spanish tennis prodigy also shed some light on his long-standing rivalry with Swiss legend Roger Federer as both will compete against each other when Indian Aces will take on UAE Royals on Saturday.

"The rivalry with Roger has been great for a lot of years and we hope to keep playing more matches. It will be a great scenario here for fans (when they clash in IPTL). I am excited to play against him here," Nadal said.