A close up shows a tennis ball and the bandaged fingers of Rafael Nadal of Spain as he prepares to serve to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their men's singles final match at the French Open Tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris June 8,
A close up shows a tennis ball and the bandaged fingers of Rafael Nadal of Spain as he prepares to serve to Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their men's singles final match at the French Open Tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris June 8, 2014. REUTERS

Defending US Open champion Rafael Nadal is still recuperating from the injured wrist that he sustained during training back in July. Nadal recently admitted that he still don't know when he will be 100% fit to compete again and the Spanish athlete sees that his absence in the sporting world of tennis might extend longer than first anticipated.

In an interview with Spain's IB3 La Radiotelevisio de les Illes Balears, Nadal acknowledged that his recovery is taking slower than he thought. He said that he tries to allot a few minutes to practice his two-handed backhand on a daily basis and tries to add more time as day passes by, but he admitted that his injured wrist still hurts a bit. He is reportedly optimistic that he will be able to compete in Beijing (translation via @bounzifu).

"The Spaniard faithfully follows the instructions of the doctors to get to the next challenge," IB3 wrote.

On Sept. 4, Nadal has shared pictures of him while training. Since he wasn't able to take part in the 2014 US Open, he shared a picture of the uniform that he was supposed to wear in the Grand Slam tournament to his more than 14 million followers on Facebook.

"For this year's US Open, I wanted to wear my uniform with no sleeves," Nadal wrote. "As I haven't been able to play, I wanted to share these pictures with you of me training with it."

Nadal also took to Facebook to thank his fans for their continuous support despite being missing in action. He said the support that he received from fans has helped him to train to get back in top shape as soon as he can.

"I'm continuing with my recovery and I hope to be back competing soon, thank you."

Nadal last played in the Wimbledon championships where he lost to 144th-ranked Nick Kyrgios of Australia. In the current season, Nadal has won four titles including the Doha Open, Rio Open, Madrid Open, and French Open. He has appeared seven times in the finals out of the 14 events that he had participated in.

MORE SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:

Iggy Azalea Hangs Out With Dennis Rodman At MTV's 'House Of Style'; Rodman Calls Out Nick Young For Not Putting A Ring On Iggy

2014 US Open: Hottest Male Tennis Players To Watch [PHOTOS]

Justin Verlander Refuses To Comment On Leaked Nude Photos With Kate Upton