MALLORCA (Spain): Rafa Nadal has shaken off the knee injury that forced him to abandon his Australian Open title defence last month and is confident of making a successful tour return at Indian Wells in March.

The world No 3, who practised on an indoor court near his home in Mallorca this morning, said the tendon had healed in his right knee and he was working to get back to the same level of fitness he reached at the start of the year.

MADRID: Rafael Nadal is hopeful the knee injury that forced him out of the Australian Open will have healed in a week or less, the world No 2 said this morning.

"I am not worried," Nadal told reporters at Barcelona airport before heading to a clinic for tests overseen by Spanish tennis federation (RFET) doctor Angel Ruiz Cotorro.

"I just have a little tweak and I hope to have recovered in a week or even less," he added.

The injury forced the 23-year-old defending champion to retire from his quarterfinal at Melbourne Park against Andy Murray on Tuesday.

MELBOURNE: Rafael Nadal's injury-enforced withdrawal from the Australian Open has once again raised doubts as to whether tennis has seen the best of him.

The mercurial Spaniard limped out of his engrossing quarterfinal yesterday with rising British star Andy Murray early in the third set, trailing by two sets, with a recurrence of a knee injury that blighted his 2009 season.

Nadal put a brave face on the disappointment of relinquishing his Australian title through injury and the likely imminent loss of his No 2 world ranking to either Murray or Novak Djokovic.

DOHA: Rafael Nadal, seeking his first ATP World Tour title in eight months, admitted after reaching the semifinals of the Qatar Open that he has been suffering from a crisis of confidence.

DOHA: Rafael Nadal, who played mock tennis with Roger Federer on a suspended 'magic' carpet, was this morning given a slightly easier path to the final of the opening tournament of what could be a transformative season.

Though Spain's Australian Open champion looked relaxed and happy while performing with his great rival in the middle of a local souq Sunday, he has not won a tournament for nearly nine months since struggling with injuries.

LONDON: Rafael Nadal will not be carrying home any fond memories from his trips to London this year after he became the first player to be knocked out of the ATP World Tour Finals this morning.

PARIS: Rafael Nadal kept winning the hard way at the Paris Masters this morning, edging past fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals.

PARIS: World No 2 Rafael Nadal said yesterday tennis was free of doping and repeated his view that the testing procedures were too tough.

“I am the fi rst who wants a clean sport, more than anyone, believe me, but the way it (controls) are being done is, in my opinion, not right,” the Spaniard told reporters at the Paris Masters.

Nadal, who had previously accused controllers of “harassing” the players, said he had a problem with players having to inform anti-doping authorities of their whereabouts on a daily basis.

WORLD number two Rafael Nadal will return to action for the  rst time since the US Open at next week’s China Open after taking two weeks out to rest an abdominal injury.

MADRID: Two months on the sidelines nursing tendinitis in both knees will not derail Rafa Nadal’s bid for the only Grand Slam to elude him, the Spanish world No 3 said.

“I am not scared,” the 23-year-old Mallorcan told Spain’s El Pais daily.

“I was out for two months and then (this month) I got to the quarterfinals at the Montreal Masters and the semis at the Cincinnati Masters.

“I know that here (at the US Open) a quarterfinal or a semi would be a very good result but I am coming to win,” added the six-time Grand Slam winner.