Rafa Nadal
Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates after winning the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, January 2, 2016. Reuters/Stringer

Rafael Nadal believes he can be a problem for the campaigns of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and other top tennis players this season if he could return to his old form.

“If I'm able to find my best condition after many injuries I've had during the last few years, I can compete with everyone,” Nadal said, reports Tennis World USA. “Then I will be a problem for Nole and all the other great players.”

For the first time since 2005, Nadal failed to win a major title in a year after struggling mightily in major tournaments in the 2015 season. But the 14-time Grand Slam winner was able to bounce back in the second half of the year, showing his elite form at the China Open, Swiss Indoors, and ATP World Tour Finals.

Nadal has opened his 2016 season with a victory in the first round of the Qatar Exxonmobil Open in Doha, where he is competing with world No. 1 Djokovic. Nadal was tested in his 6-7(5) 6-3 6-1 win over Pablo Carreno Busta, but the “King of Clay” was still happy to kick-off 2016 on a winning note.

“I had chances in the beginning of the match [and] I couldn't convert,” Nadal told ATP’s official website. “I think I changed a little bit at the beginning of the second [set]… I'm very happy [with] the way that I managed to change the dynamic of the match, and I think I finished the match playing well.”

Nadal is set to face Dutch Robin Haase, who advanced into the next round after sneaking past Russia’s Aslan Karatsev 5-7 6-1 7-5. Meanwhile, top seed Djokovic will face Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, who eliminated Malek Jaziri 7-6(4) 7-6(4).

Live streaming info and live score updates

Catch all the action of the 2016 Qatar Open Exxonmobil live via TennisTV. Live score updates will be available in ATP’s official website.