Tennis superstar Rafael Nadal has confirmed that he plans to play at the Mexican Open tournament early next year.
Nadal has missed time since suffering a knee injury and has not played since losing in the second round at Wimbledon. He confirmed earlier in September that he would play in the Australian Open, which is held before the Mexico tournament.
"Just because his first confirmed event is in Acapulco does not mean he is not focusing on returning beforehand," Nadal told The Associated Press by telephone on Friday, according to ESPN.com. "He plans to return this year with Australia his priority at this point."
The 11-time Grand Slam champion has plans to play in an exhibition in December, which would be his first match since losing in the second round at Wimbeldon over the summer and suffering a knee injury. He played against Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic and lost 7-6 (9), 4-6, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6, which was the earliest exit from Wimbledon since 2005 for Nadal.
After discovering tendinitis in his knee, Nadal pulled out of the London Olympics, where he was supposed to be the flag bearer for Spain. He had planned to play in the U.S. Open, but also pulled out after feeling that his knee was not quite healed.
"I feel better after the meeting with my doctors and happy knowing that the evolution of the past weeks has been positive and surgery has been avoided," said Nadal at the time, according to the Associated Press.
The defending French Open champion said he would play more clay matches in the future and avoid hard courts to help with his knees.
"His training has gone well, physically and mentally he is in good shape," Toni Nadal said. "We can't put a fixed date down yet for his return. But all signs are positive that he will return sooner than later."
Nadal also was forced to miss the Davis Cup semifinals in mid-September, which saw the defending champion Spanish team take on the United States. The team was still able to win and will take on the Czech Republic in November, but Nadal will still sit out to heal his knee.
He has suffered knee injuries in the past and this time he wants to make sure that it is fully healed before he tries to play again.
"I have to recover and I'll be back once the pain is gone," Nadal said according to a statement on a website linked to his Twitter feed. "I have missed the Olympics and the U.S. Open in the last few weeks, two of the most important tournaments of the year and that I really wanted to play. I really want to be back competing and enjoying the tennis tour, but I have many years in front of me and my knee needs some rest."
Due to his injuries, Nadal is now currently ranked fourth in the world, his lowest ranking since 2010, according to SI.com. But Nadal has said previously that his focus is on getting healthy and winning majors and that his ranking is not the most important concern.
"At this point of my career (the ranking) is not the most important thing," Nadal, told Efe, according to ESPN.com. "Now the most important thing is to make a good recovery and right now my knee is not ready to compete in a Grand Slam; I'm going to try to recover as soon as possible to come back feeling strong, sure that I can compete and train the best that I know how.
Nadal is considered to be one of the best players in the world and the greatest clay court player of all time. He has won seven French Open titles, two Wimbleldon's and one U.S. and Australian Open title.
The clay-court Mexican Open is scheduled for Feb. 25-March 2.