Abu Dhabi Rafael Nadal thanked the organisers of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship on Saturday after sealing third place and gaining valuable game-time on his comeback from illness and injury.

Nadal rebounded from his 6-2, 6-0 semi-final rout at the hands of Andy Murray in the semi-final of the three-day exhibition event on Friday to overcome Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 at Zayed Sports City Tennis Stadium.

It was his second match on his return to action after having his appendix removed in November, prior to which he had been afflicted by back and wrist injuries.

Nadal said he was pleased with his performance, having eradicated the litany of backhand errors he made against Wawrinka and moving eminently quicker on the court.

The 28-year-old, who has played in every Mubadala tournament except one since its inauguration in 2009, added: “In general, I played a positive match, a good match, better than yesterday against a tough opponent. Thank you very much to Abu Dhabi for making the event possible and allowing me to play two matches.

“I am very happy to be back here and competing again. I really hope these two matches will help.”

There was a subdued atmosphere at the start of the third/fourth-place play-off following defending champion Novak Djokovic’s shock withdrawal from the final with Andy Murray due to fever. Yet there was still much to savour in witnessing the return of the swashbuckling Nadal against the man with the arguably the most bewitching backhand in the sport, Wawrinka.

The world number four had been lacklustre in his 6-1, 6-2 thrashing at the hands of Djokovic in the second semi-final on Friday and he made another slow start against Nadal.

The Swiss lost his serve but recovered immediately with a break of his own, as he unleashed his favourite backhand to great success.

The backhand is an area of weakness of Wawrinka’s compatriot Roger Federer – which Nadal has targeted relentlessly and successfully throughout the years. But here the left-handed Spaniard’s famed whipped forehand could not damage the 29-year-old, whose own major weapon was the more potent.

The pair swapped further breaks and were locked at 3-3, although Wawrinka was in the ascendancy, pushing Nadal back with a flurry of blistering groundstrokes.

Wawrinka may well regret two forehand errors at 5-4, which could have allowed him to take the first set, although he shrugged off these mistakes to move 6-5 ahead. In the ensuing tiebreak, though, Nadal emerged the far stronger of the pair, cranking up his serve to good effect, as Wawrinka wilted.

The Swiss’ sorry demise was ironically sealed with a wayward backhand as Nadal prevailed 7-1 in the tiebreak and claimed the first set in 51 minutes.

It was Nadal’s sixth tiebreak success out of six at the Mubadala event since 2009.

The 28-year-old was now the irresistible force of old, dominating the baseline and overpowering the crestfallen Wawrinka, who meekly surrendered his serve to fall 2-0 behind in the second set.

However, the Swiss responded immediately to this setback by breaking straight back through some impressive returns.

Nadal broke again, though, to lead 4-2 – the fifth time that Wawrinka had lost his serve in the match.

A fusillade of powerful forehands propelled the irrepressible Spaniard to a 5-2 lead, with Wawrinka lacking the intensity and precision of the first set. The Swiss held to love but this was merely a temporary stay of execution and Nadal wrapped up victory in one hour and 27 minutes.