Rafael Nadal had his Australian Open run marred by an injury and after losing to Stanislas Wawrinka, the number one player on the ATP Tour is recovering nicely and he is expected to pick things up at his next tournament in Buenos Aires in Argentina for the ATP Copa Claro.
According to ESPN.com, Nadal has shown great signs of progress from his injury and is scheduled next to play in Buenos Aires at the tournament starting February 10. Nadal suffered a back injury while playing in Melbourne against Wawrinka and after dealing with some treatment, he has been cleared to start training at home in Spain. Nadal is looking to defend his French Open title later in the year and after he plays at Buenos Aires, he is scheduled to play at Rio de Janeiro and those will be on clay courts as players warm up for the next major. The ATP BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells is also on the schedule coming up in March.
Check here for the full ATP schedule from ESPN.
Here is more on Rafael Nadal and his injury from Reuters.com:
Nadal is recovering well from the back problem that wrecked his Australian Open final last month and plans to start training again on Thursday in his native Mallorca, his team said on Tuesday.
World number one Nadal lost to Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in the Melbourne final, preventing the Spaniard drawing level on 14 grand slam singles titles with American Pete Sampras.
Nadal had more tests in Barcelona on Monday and his team said in a statement they were "satisfactory and showed favorable progress". Nadal is due to play in a clay event in Buenos Aires starting on February 10, followed by a tournament in Rio de Janeiro, also on clay, and the hardcourt Masters events at Indian Wells and Miami.
Nadal will play in the Buenos Aires ATP tournament in February for the first time since 2005, the Spaniard said on Wednesday.
The tournament to be held at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club from February 10 to 16 is part of the Latin American swing of claycourt events which also includes tournaments in Chile, Brazil and Mexico.
Nadal lost to Argentine Gaston Gaudio, the 2004 French Open champion, in the quarter-final of the 2005 Buenos Aires tournament at the start of a glittering career that has included 13 grand slam titles, eight at Roland Garros.
"We're very happy to have Rafa, to have a world number one playing for the points in Argentina," said tournament director Martin Jaite, who is also his country's Davis Cup captain.
Nadal made his comeback from a long injury layoff at the Vina del Mar tournament in Chile last February, launching a comeback that took him back to the top of the rankings last month.
He was in Argentina last month for exhibition matches against world number two Novak Djokovic and retired Argentine former number three David Nalbandian's farewell to tennis.
Buenos Aires champion David Ferrer will not be defending his title.
(Reuters)
