Rafael Nadal admitted that he will be starting ‘from almost zero’ when he returns to competition in January after appendix surgery. World no. 3 Nadal announced via his official Facebook page that he was training again and said that he was ‘very happy’ to be practicing once more for the new season. Asked by Spanish newspaper AS if the 2015 season will be dominated by himself, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer as we are accustomed to seeing, Nadal paid tribute to the late-season performances of his rivals (Federer won the Shanghai Rolex Masters and reached the final of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, while Djokovic won in Paris and London to finish the season ranked world no. 1). ‘You never know what can happen. This isn’t forever. I think Federer has finished the year very well, the same as Djokovic. They are going start again strongly and I from almost zero, with more problems,’ Nadal said. ‘I have to recover what I’ve lost during the last six months. It’s a nice challenge to overcome and I’m motivated.’ Nadal, who withdrew from the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) due to injury concerns earlier in the season, will begin his 2015 season at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition in Abu Dhabi on 1-3 January, where Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are also appearing. Nadal’s first tournament will be his title defence at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, where Djokovic is also set to appear. Nadal acknowledged that the lack of ‘continuity’ will see him start the 2015 season on the back foot compared to rivals Djokovic and Roger Federer. ‘It’s always a bit tough starting off after a few difficult months, without any continuity, and after the last month and half without being able to play any sport and the appendicitis,’ Nadal said in an interview with Spanish newspaper AS. ‘What I have to do this month is to get myself fit physically, progress my tennis as much as possible and lay the foundations to start well in Abu Dhabi and in Doha. [Then] take advantage of those tournaments to recover the competitiveness that I’ve not had for months due to the injuries.’ Nadal underwent appendix surgery in November after losing to Borna Coric at the Swiss Indoors Basel, skipping the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in order to do so, having been diagnosed with appendicitis during the Shanghai Rolex Masters and initially treating the problem with antibiotics. The Spanish player has also been having a treatment involving stem cells on his troublesome back, initially a problem almost a year ago when it hampered him in the Australian Open final against Stan Wawrinka. With the first Grand Slam of the year beginning on January 19, Nadal does not have too much time to get his game going again. ‘If you train well and you feel right physically, the process is much quicker,’ he said. ‘In a few days you pick up the speed of the ball again, the movement in the legs and, if I do good work at home and I play well at the start of the year, that could be enough to arrive in Australia well prepared.’
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 13:55:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015