Rafael Nadal 'Excited' To Return To Action Ahead Of Davis Cup

Rafael Nadal is set to make a return to tennis action for the first time since January when he takes part in the Davis Cup this weekend.

Nadal last featured at the Australian Open this year when he withdrew from his quarterfinal match-up with Marin Cilic in the fifth set due to a hip problem. The Spaniard proceeded to lose his world No. 1 ranking during his time out as Roger Federer overtook him in February before winning the Rotterdam Open.

Nadal was expected to return at the Mexican Open in Acapulco in late February, however, he suffered another setback of the hip injury from Melbourne on the day of his opening round match as he pulled out before withdrawing from the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Miami Open as well.

The 31-year-old, though, was recently named in Spain's Davis Cup squad and is expected to take part when they meet with Germany in the quarterfinals from April 6-8 in Valencia, as Nadal is hoping he can remain injury-free before the start of the clay-court season.

"I hope to find myself with no injury," Nadal said, as quoted on Tennis.com. "I have been very excited to return to competition accompanied by colleagues and friends. I'm hoping it's a positive week for us all."

"Physically, I am hoping to respond. Since Shanghai [in Oct. 2017], it has been complicated," he said.

Nadal recently became the world No. 1 for the fifth time in his career after Federer's loss to Juan Martin del Potro in the final at Indian Wells along with his opening round defeat to Australia's Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Miami Open last month. However, he claims he was unaware of the development.

"Honestly, I did not know [about returning to No. 1]," Nadal added. "I was excited the previous year [when I became No. 1], but when you are not competing, you disconnect from rankings and points and try to not be thinking about these things."

Nadal has a near-flawless Davis Cup singles record going 22-1 in his career, with his only loss coming at 17 years of age in his first match against Jiri Novak back in 2004. The 16-time Grand Slam champion has notably won 61 of the 66 Davis Cup sets he has played since.

In addition to Nadal, the likes of Miami Open semifinalist Pablo Carreno Busta, Roberto Bautista Agut, Feliciano Lopez and David Ferrer will also be in the Spain squad with notable names including world No. 4 Alexander Zverev and Philipp Kohlschreiber featuring for Germany.

Nadal is likely to play in the first clay-court event of the year afterward that takes place at the Monte-Carlo Masters from April 14-22. Nadal will be defending his title from last year after defeating fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos Viñolas in straight-sets.