Nadal is in action at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel ATP event in Acapulco
Thursday 2 March 2017 15:38, UK
Rafael Nadal says he "feels lucky to be part of the game" again after a left wrist injury forced him to miss the majority of 2016.
The Spaniard is back in action at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel ATP event in Acapulco where he has reached the quarter-finals and is on a collision course to meet Novak Djokovic in the final.
The 30-year-old feels happy to be back playing at the highest level of the game again after reaching the Australian Open final in January.
"It was a good start to the season for me," said Nadal. "In every event that I played, in Abu Dhabi, Brisbane and Australia I played well.
"In Melbourne I played some great matches and the semi-final against Grigor Dimitrov was an amazing match with a great level of tennis from both of us."
Nadal came up against old foe Roger Federer in the Australian Open final and the 14-time major winner felt another meeting between the two greats of the game was on the cards.
"During the whole week I felt that people wanted that final between myself and Roger, so I felt lucky to be part of it again. I enjoyed it and it was a great experience," he said.
Following his epic five-set defeat by the Swiss great, Nadal remained adamant that he opted for rest and recuperation rather than compete in Rotterdam, despite news that his uncle Toni will stop coaching him at the end of the season.
Now Nadal is ready to make an impression in Mexico, where he is aiming to become a three-time champion.
"My goal was to play in Rotterdam after Australia. I had competed a lot in one month after not being able to do that for a a long while so the advice from my doctor was to rest," he added.
"For me, it's to have the body at the right level and be healthy enough to compete. That's what I'm trying to do."
Don't forget to follow us skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad or our Twitter account @skysportstennis for news, reports, live blogs and expert analysis.
