Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal (Photo : Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Rafael Nadal played his first competitive tennis since October and it was a triumphant one. The former world's no.1 and 14-time Grand Slam winner teamed up with Marc Lopez to dispatch Carlos Taberner and Bernabe Zapata 6-2, 6-0 in a doubles match at the Spanish National Championships.
Nadal will not play a singles match in the tournament, but it's still exciting to see the Spanish tennis legend hitting balls once again after shutting down his 2016 ATP season campaign early due to injury.
The golden pairing of Nadal and Lopez, the reigning Olympic men's doubles champion, picked their opponents apart with sublime shots and sharp crosses to punch their way to the semifinal round scheduled on Friday.
"Nadal is not playing singles at the tournament, saying he is not ready to do that just yet. He is due to return to singles action at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition event on December 29 when he takes on Tomas Berdych. Andy Murray will also be playing in Abu Dhabi.
The former world number one is scheduled to play his first ATP tournament of the new season in Brisbane the following week as he prepares for the Australian Open."
Nadal is trying to bounce back from yet another disappointing season and he will have a chance to kick off his campaign with a bang at the Brisbane International, where rising star Milos Raonic of Canada, Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland and Kei Nishikori of Japan are expected to compete.
Currently ranked no.9 in the world, Nadal will then shift his focus on winning another Grand Slam title at the Australian Open championships mid-January.
