Nadal failed to win a major for the first time since his maiden French Open title in 2005, dropping out of the top five in the ATP rankings for the first time in 10 years.
With the unique format at the WTA Finals, it is all about how you finish rather than how you start as new champion Agnieszka Radwanska proved this week.
It proved a happy Halloween for Czech Petra Kvitova after she made the most of coming back from the dead to set up a title-match showdown with Agnieszka Radwanska.