Rafael Nadal has begun training as part of his recovery from a left knee injury that has sidelined him since Wimbledon.
The Spaniard chose a hard court in his home town of Manacor to begin hitting tennis balls again, overseen by his uncle and coach Toni Nadal and a physiotherapist.
"I think I'm feeling better, " he said "The knee is improving in the right way, happy to be on court all the time after a few months outside. I'm enjoying the feeling to be playing tennis all the time and then there will be another period of my recovery,” he says.
The 26-year-old Nadal says he plans to be fully fit in time for the Australian Open in January.
"I will start very slow, day by day, work hard in my comeback and hopefully the knee will be ready soon but always, we have to be careful because after a few months out of competition the body needs to adapt to everything on court and all the muscles need to start very slowly," he says.
The fourth-ranked Nadal, who won the French Open, has not played a competitive match since losing to Czech player Lukas Rosol in the second round at Wimbledon.
Watch the video.
AP
source: newshub archive
