Nadal to return to tennis in 2015

After a disappointing 2014 season, which ended with a variety of injury related withdrawals, we are just days away from the return of Rafael Nadal to the ATP tour.

Prior to the North American hard-court swing in August 2014, the former world No. 1 fell during practice injuring his right wrist. Despite practicing through pain and wearing a brace, it was decided he could not compete. Therefore, Nadal failed to defend his titles at the Masters 1000 events in Canada and Cincinnati as well as the U.S. Open.

After the Open, Nadal returned to the courts participating in the China Open and a few other events before falling victim to appendicitis. The condition required season-ending surgery forcing him to miss the year end finals in London.

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Now in 2015, the Majorca native is scheduled to make his return on New Years Day in Abu Dhabi at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships. This 3-day exhibition event usually which features some of the best names in tennis.

This years lineup features Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as the top two seeds, respectively. Djokovic will receive a bye as he awaits the winner of the No. 3 Stan Wawrinka and No. 6 Nicolas Almagro.

On the bottom half of the draw, Nadal will also get a first-round bye as he will face the winner of No. 4 Andy Murray and No. 5 Feliciano Lopez. The two remaining players will face off on January 3 for the title.

There is no question this event will be a great test for Nadal. He could potentially play Murray and Djokovic or Wawrinka in back-to-back matches. Rafa would certainly appreciate if Lopez defeated Murray, yet either opponent will certainly give him a chance to shake off the rust before possibly facing Djokovic in the final.

Rafa has already stated he will play at the Qatar Open in Doha after competing in the Mubadala Exhibition. He will then make the trip to Melbourne to compete in the years first major, the Australian Open.

Nadal’s 2014 trip to Melbourne ended in disappointment with a loss to Stan Wawrinka in the final. This year, he will look to make another deep push in the only major that he has not won more than one time.

Looking a little farther ahead in the year is going to be tough. If recent past has told us anything, Nadal will have an incredible 2015 year after he missed nearly half of 2014.

After missing seven months due to knee tendinitis in 2012, Nadal had a career year in 2013, thus making it entirely likely that he will have another good year this year.

However, this wrist injury is just another injury to add to the list. Whether or not this will have an effect on his year has yet to be determined. Yet, the Nadal camp insists he is 100 percent healthy.

Despite the injuries, Nadal is almost guaranteed to play well between April and June. Even skeptics cannot argue the man’s ability to play on clay, especially after he won an unprecedented ninth title at Roland Garros in June 2014.

Let’s not forget how much different of a player Nadal is at the French Open compared to the other Masters 1000 clay events. In the past few years, Nadal has looked iffy in Madrid and Rome only to torch the entire field come Paris.

Even skeptics cannot argue the man’s ability to play on clay

Unfortunately for Nadal, the year extends much past just June and Roland Garros. I don’t need to tell anyone who follows him that he has looked terrible in the past few years at Wimbledon. Culminating with losses before the quarterfinals in each of the past three seasons, he is due for a big show this year.

The U.S. Open Series in August and September has been a tricky event for Rafa in his career. Nadal appears to either excel and win a bunch of events or lose early. Of course he has not even played two of the past three tournaments due to injury.

Despite everything though, one thing is clear for 2015, you can count on Nadal to always play well on clay no matter how many months he has missed. Otherwise, we will just have to wait to see what happens in the other tournaments.

Next: Lob and Smash 2015 Grand Slam Predictions

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