World No. 1 Rafael Nadal is set to return to action for the Spanish team during next week's Davis Cup team quarter-final against Germany. Nadal recently returned to the top of the world ATP Rankings after incumbent World No. 1 Roger Federer suffered an early exit in the Miami Open at Key Biscayne, Florida.
Nadal withdrew from the Mexican Open, Indian Wells and Miami Masters due to the same leg injury that forced him to retire from his 2018 Australian Open quarter-final match against Marin Cilic. With sights set on a potential eleventh French Open title, Nadal will try to regain his form at the Davis Cup.
However, the Spaniard doesn't view the Davis Cup tie against Germany as a preparation for the upcoming Roland Garros (May 21 - June 10). The Davis Cup is an important competition, not a preparation for another thing. Let's see how it goes day after day, if I will be doing well tennis-wise and physically, I will try to help the team to win the tie," Nadal told 1B3 TV, via Express.co.uk.
Rafael Nadal injury update: Will play Spain vs Germany Davis Cup tie
Nadal enjoyed a memorable 2017 in which he captured the French Open and US Open titles. The year 2018 hasn't been as kind to Nadal, who has yet to complete a tournament. However, a recent video that surfaced on social media shows Nadal returning balls with the same fluency he does in matches.
“I am aware that I haven't finished any of the tournaments I haven't played. The wish is to return, obviously being cautious. I had a complicated few months, unexpected things happened, I needed to be patient, take a rest without doing anything, but now I feel that I am working at a good level and trying to increase it each passing day. I am motivated to start again," an adamant Nadal said.
Nadal, the former 16-time Grand Slam champion, has tasted Davis Cup success on four occasions -- 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2011. He will likely face German World No. 1 Alexander Zverev Jr. in his 2018 Davis Cup tie. Zverev, playing the best tennis of his career, will face American John Isner in the Miami Open final on Sunday. At this stage, Nadal defeating the young German would be considered an upset.
With Federer already announcing his decision to skip the European clay court season, Rafael Nadal is likely to hold on to his World No. 1 ranking through the next few months. Marin Cilic, with 4,985 points, is the third-ranked player in the world. Nadal (8,770 points) leads Federer (8,670 points) by exactly 100 ATP ranking points. Stay tuned for the latest Rafael Nadal injury update.