NADAL UNCERTAIN

Rafael Nadal, the former top-ranked tennis player sidelined with a knee injury since the French Open, isn’t certain when he’ll return to the ATP World Tour.

“I have to wait and see how I continue to recover because I’ve only been back training for a week and a half and you always feel a bit happier,” the 23-year-old told Spanish broadcaster TVE yesterday in an interview at his summer house in Porto Cristo, Majorca.

“You start with lots of hope,” Nadal, who was unable to defend his Wimbledon title because of tendinitis in both knees, said. “But again, the real test would be to see how I go when I really push my knees and I think that’s likely to happen in the coming days. So I hope it’s all good.”

Nadal played his last match May 31 in the fourth round of Roland Garros against Robin Soderling of Sweden, who handed him his first loss at the French Open.

“I would like to come back in Montreal in a week and a half,” he said. “I have to force the knees and just see how far I can go.”

BLOOMBERG