World number three Rafael Nadal has revealed he would participate in the ATP 1000 event starting this week in Miami, despite nursing an ankle injury.
The four-time finalist at the event stated he would be below 100% when he comes on court for his first match there on Friday, adding he would have preferred starting his campaign a day later.
”Well, I just had a problem in my ankle and I felt pain while training but I am optimistic now because I had thought I was out of the tournament,” Nadal stated.
The Spaniard added, ”obviously I feel pain, so we have to go day by day. I would prefer to play on Saturday instead of Friday. It is true, there are some players playing on Saturday and I would prefer to delay my debut one more day but is not possible, so we will see what happens.
28-year old Nadal, who lost in last year’s final to Novak Djokovic, has been drawn bye through the first round amd will meet either Nicolas Almagro or Sergiy Stakhovsky in his opening match in the second round on Friday.
Meanwhile, former top 10 player Janko Tipsarevic will make a return to competitive tennis at the doubles event in Miami; the Serbian’s first appearance at a competition in two years.
Tipsarevic had spent 17 months on the sidelines due to multiple surgeries to remove a enign tumour in his foot, suffering a bout of pneumonia during the time as well.
Now, 30-year old Tipsarevic is set to partner fellow Serbian and world number one Djokovic in the doubles event, with their first-round opponents being Jurgen Melzer and Robert Lindstedt.
A win in that match could set up a tough second-round date with top seeded American twins Bob and Mike Bryan.