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Beijing - Rafael Nadal on Friday said it was up to Andy Murray to decide whether he plays the ATP World Tour Finals after he drew fire for discussing skipping the year-end tournament to stay fresh for the Davis Cup decider.
Nadal helped Spain win the Davis Cup team event in 2009 and 2011 shortly after taking part in the men's tour finale, and he said the end-of-year double-header had done him no harm at all.
"Everybody does what feels better for him, no? I played the Davis Cup and the World Tour Finals every time. Worked well for me. I won matches in the final," Nadal said at the China Open in Beijing.
Murray's Britain, seeking their first Davis Cup win in 79 years, will play Belgium on clay in November, a week after the end of the World Tour Finals on hardcourts in London.
But Murray was sternly told he was "required" to play the mandatory World Tour Finals after he aired the possibility of missing the glitzy event to attune his game to clay.
Nadal steered clear of telling Murray whether he should play the Tour Finals or not, but he said the Scot needed simply to do what he felt was right.
"It's a personal thing. It's not the same story for everybody," Nadal said. "Everybody has to do the thing that you feel good with yourself and the thing that you feel will be more positive for your career or for your moment.
"So if he believes in terms of preparation for the final of Davis Cup, that is his first chance to win the Davis Cup, so he has to miss the World Tour Finals, good for him.
"If he believes he can manage to play both events, good for him, and good for everybody, too, for the crowd."
