Paris: Rafael Nadal may be able to play at the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, which will be staged at the O2 Arena. In the latest contribution to the ongoing debate over Nadal’s injured knee, Nadal’s uncle and coach Toni Nadal raised hopes on Wednesday that the world No 4 would be in London.
The news comes after it was announced earlier this week that Nadal would be one of six of the world’s top 10 players competing at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi from December 27 to 29.
He will be joined by Andy Murray, the US Open champion and world No 3, defending champion and world No 2 Novak Djokovic, David Ferrer (5) and Tomas Berdych (6).
Speaking to Fox Sports, the man universally known as Uncle Toni claimed that “in 15 days, Rafa will resume training, in time for him to aim to play in the Masters [ie the World Tour Finals] and the final of the Davis Cup.”
Nadal has not been seen at a tennis tournament since his surprise defeat to Lukas Rosol in the second round of Wimbledon and has been battling inflammation in his left knee. His own comments on his prognosis have been less optimistic than his uncle’s.
“I hope you see me in Australia [in January],” said Nadal last month. “That is the biggest goal for me, to come back just before then in Qatar, but I cannot say for sure it is going to happen. I want to be 100 per cent when I come back.”
Meanwhile, Murray is easing into his work at the Japan Open in Tokyo, where he posted the simplest of victories against Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko on Wednesday. Murray lost only two of the first 22 points as he sprinted through a 56-minute match 6-1, 6-2.
Murray will play Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals in a match that is unlikely to be so easy as Wawrinka is the world No 16. He also has the distinction of being the last man to beat Murray in the first week of a Grand Slam, at the 2010 US Open.
