Nadal ready to play in Abu Dhabi

Johannesburg: World number one Rafael Nadal is all set to make a come back at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi later this month after his injury lay-off which forced him to withdraw from the ATP finals.

Nadal announced withdrawal from the ATP finals last month citing a knee injury after he was defeated by Belgium’s first-time qualifier David Goffin in the opening match.

However, the injury was not quite serious but the Spaniard took couple of weeks off to recover well and start slow.

“It’s true that I finished with an injury, so I’ve taken a bit of time to recover well,” Sport24 quoted Nadal, as saying.

The 31-year-old believed that the Championship which begins on December 28 would also act as a perfect warm-up ahead of the Australian Open.

“I am going to try to play in Abu Dhabi and Brisbane before Australia, so that will be the ideal situation. And let’s try to make that happen,” Nadal said.

The 16-time Grand Slam winner had won French and US Opens this year. (ANI)