Rafael Nadal News: Confirms January Return; Says ATP World Tour Finals Is The Strangest He’s Ever Seen

Rafael Nadal has confirmed that he will be back in action in January. The Spaniard, who finished his season ranked third in the world, underwent appendectomy in November that made him miss the remaining tournaments including the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Nadal told ESPN that he will take part in the Mubadala Tennis Championships. He will then compete in his first official tournament at the 2014 Qatar Open in Doha. Nadal is the defending champion in Doha after beating Frenchman Gael Monfils, 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-2.

According to a report by The Guardian, Nadal also hopes he will be fit for the Grand Slam of the Asia Pacific. Nadal has made it to the finals of the 2014 Australian Open, but lost to Stanislas Wawrinka, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 3-6.

"It will be 10 or 12 days before I can practice again, so I will have all of December to try to put my body and my tennis at the right level to be competitive in January," Nadal said. "I'm going to work for it and that is my goal," he added.

Nadal said that he hopes to be healthy enough so he could practice and train for the upcoming 2015 season. He added that if he becomes 100 percent fit for training, he should be able to start and come back strong in 2015.

Nadal admitted that he has been plagued with injuries this season, which made him unable to play and compete to the top of his level. He is confident he will have sufficient time to make sure he gets his body in perfect condition when the next season comes. While it is normal to feel rusty on the first day of practice after being out of the action for two months, Nadal is positive that he will get better every day. He targets to be 100 percent fit by the first week of December, then he can further train to the top of his level until he competes in his first tournament.

Meanwhile, Nadal felt that the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals had been a strange one after the tennis fans failed to see a finals showdown at the O2 Arena in London. He said it is "bad news" that the crowd didn't see a finals showdown take place. Nonetheless, Nadal said he wishes that Roger Federer, who pulled out of the finale due to a back spasm he sustained in the semifinals match against Stan Wawrinka, recovers quickly from the injury.