Rafael Nadal: "I Will Improve, I'm Sure Of That"

Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates after winning a point during his men's singles match against Peter Gojowczyk of Germany at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Petar Kujundzic — Nadal, who recently underwent laparoscopic appendectomy, is at the ninth place with $44.5 million. In the 2014 season, Nadal has won four titles and took home more than $6 million prize money. In June, he won his ninth French Open title. Nadal has current deals with Nike, Babolat, Mapfre, Kia Motors, Poker Stars, Mueller, and more. Reuters

Rafael Nadal expressed his feelings after losing to British No. 1 Andy Murray at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship: "I will improve, I'm sure of that." The Spaniard, who made his first appearance in a match after his appendectomy last year, lost to Murray, 6-2, 6-0, in an exhibition game in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Despite losing to Murray, the 14-time Grand Slam champion is positive to start his 2015 season in Qatar.

The Spaniard who also missed most of the second half of the 2014 season because of wrist injury appears to be a bit rusty. He played for more than two hours against Feliciano Lopez at the Abu Dhabi exhibition tournament on Thursday.

"This was not the best start possible against a tough rival in Andy Murray," the 28-year-old told the Gulf News. "But there are only small things I need to adjust."

According to Nadal, 6-2, 6-0 is too much and he had a lot of chances to have a closer result. He claimed that he obviously needs to improve but his defeat does not affect him too much. He went on to say that during the match, he felt that he was dominating the points but he missed the competitive spirit, which he needs to work on.

On Sunday, Rafael Nadal bounced back and defeated Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (1), 6-3 and claimed the third spot at the exhibition tournament. Nadal claimed that although he did make some mistakes, he played a positive match against a tough opponent.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion is delighted to have the opportunity to play at the Abu Dhabi exhibition tournament and he is hopeful that the matches will help him to move forward. Rafael Nadal's next stop will be in Doha, Qatar before the first Grand Slam tournament of the year in Melbourne Australian Open. Nadal is no stranger to comebacks. In 2013, when he made a return from injury, he reached the finals in his first nine tournaments and won seven of them.

To reach the author of this article e-mail danaalyssaramos@gmail.com