By Alberto Amalfi | Monday, January 5, 2015

 

Rafael Nadal practices in Doha for his 2015 tournament debut.

Photo Credit: Qatar Tennis Federation Facebook

 

Reigning Doha champion Rafael Nadal launches his official 2015 season in Qatar this week in strong spirits — and on a recovery mission.

A year ago, Nadal defeated Gael Monfils in the Doha final to claim his 61st career title. The third-ranked Spaniard returns to Doha seeking more match play to fine-tune his game.

"Every match will be a test for me. Every moment will help," Nadal told the media in his pre-tournament press conference. "And I have the mental spirit I always had, the mental spirit competitive. So now I need to recover the tennis, I need to recover the movements. All these kind of things that only the competition can give, you know.

"So I think I'm ready mentally to work for it, and I am doing. And seriously I think the work I did in Majorca was important. The work I am doing here will be important for the future, too. I happy how I am."

Shrugging off his 6-2, 6-0 loss to Andy Murray in last week's Abu Dhabi exhibition, Nadal is seeded second in Doha and will face a qualifier in Tuesday's opening-round match. He won't have to wait long to get back to work. Nadal is playing doubles with good friend Juan Monaco. The pair will play Simone Bolelli and Leonardo Mayer on Court 1 today. Three of Nadal's eight career doubles titles have come in Doha: He partnered Albert Costa to win the 2005 title and teamed with Marc Lopez to win Doha in 2009 and 2011.

"If I'm able to win couple of matches will be fantastic for me to play some matches, and then a week of practice before Australia can help me," Nadal said. "But if not, I am ready to accept everything, to accept that I gonna need time and I gonna need to play with my best attitude possible to be competitive."

"Seriously, I happy the way that I am. I need time prove, I know that, but that's normal. But in general I think I am not that bad. I hope to be competitive soon.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion has mastered the art of the comeback in the past. Recovering from a knee injury, Nadal returned from a seven-month absence to capture 10 titles in 14 finals and finish the 2013 season ranked No. 1. The nine-time French Open champion launched his 2013 comeback on clay, winning two of the first three tournaments he played that season — Sao Paulo and Acapulco — on dirt. Nadal cautions playing on hard court makes this year's comeback more challenging.

"If I am able to play couple of matches and to win a couple of matches, then probably the feeling will be different for me and I will feel that I will be more ready for everything," Nadal said. "But this is tough tournament, a lot of good players in the draw. The people remember my comeback of 2013, but the truth is I came back in a perfect situation for me and perfect conditions for me, not playing on hard conditions, on clay, 250 (level) tournaments, better and possible for my recover my feelings, no?

"Today is a different story. The tournament is different. The surface is different. Is difficult to imagine something like happened few years ago."