[Behr@d]

رافائل نادال خود را برای بازگشت آماده می کند

On an indoor hardcourt in Manacor, Majorca Tuesday, several cameramen set up tripods as they waited for one of the more elusive sights in sport in recent months: Rafael Nadal hitting a tennis ball.

With his coach and uncle Toni Nadal watching from only a few feet away and feeding balls, Nadal whipped his ground strokes and serve like the Nadal of old, bouncing off the court on each shot. Nadal wore a white hat and a white T-shirt bearing the stylized bullhorns that Nike has made his personal logo; the light blue hardcourt evoked the Rebound Ace of the Australian Open, which is the next Grand Slam event on the tennis calendar.

Although pictures of him working out in a gym have been posted to his Facebook page in recent weeks, Nadal, 26, had not been seen on a tennis court since June 28. That was the day he was inconceivably and unceremoniously dumped out of Wimbledon in the second round by 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol, who upset the 11-time Grand Slam champion in five sets with a laughably fearless display of power.

Nadal then canceled a scheduled exhibition against Novak Djokovic at Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium, then withdrew from the London Olympics, Montreal, Cincinnati, and eventually the United States Open, consistently citing himself as “not in condition” to play, and acknowledging his chronic knee issues as the cause.

Nadal would additionally miss Masters 1000 events in Shanghai and Paris, the World Tour Finals in London, as well as the Spanish team’s appearances in the Davis Cup semifinal and final.

Although Nadal’s YouTube account presented Tuesday’s open practice as “today my first tennis practice after all these weeks,” Spanish tennis writer David J. Nadal (no relation) reported that Nadal had prudently tested out his form away from the public eye days before performing for the cameras.

Whether it was his first on-court session or not, the showcase spectacle serves as evidence that Nadal is on track for what has become a jam-packed early 2013 season.

Nadal begins his 2013 campaign before the year even begins, playing an exhibition in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 28. Nadal’s first match will be against either United States Open champion Andy Murray or Janko Tipsarevic, guaranteeing Nadal a Top-10 foe as his welcome back to competition.

From there Nadal heads to Qatar for his first official tournament, a 250-level event in Doha. Then comes the Australian Open in Melbourne, at which he will be defending points from a run to the finals in 2012.

Nadal will then make a rare appearance in Latin America in February, playing the clay court tournament in Acapulco, Mexico. He follows that with an exhibition in March at Madison Square Garden against Juan Martin del Potro, and then the back-to-back Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami.

Though his dance card is already incredibly full for a player coming back from injury, the prospect of landing Nadal in his comeback has set off a sort of silly season of speculation, with seemingly every tournament on the A.T.P. circuit engaged in a rendition of “Desperately Seeking Rafa.”

Although Nadal does not historically play the week before Grand Slams, two of his most eager bidders occupy the week in January between Doha and the Australian Open which Nadal has left open.

“He is absolutely on our radar,” said Karl Budge, tournament director of the Heineken Open in Auckland, which is held the week before the Australian Open. “I would dearly like to see him in Auckland and it’s a case of ‘watch this space’ at the moment.”

Officials at the Kooyong exhibition in Melbourne, also held the week before the Australian Open, also teased the possibility of Nadal gracing their event with his presence.

“We’re in touch with the top four, and it might surprise you to know that Nadal is a possibility for us,” said promoter Colin Stubs. “It just depends on when he actually gets back on to the circuit, and that would be something special for us, because he’s never played here.”

With perhaps more eagerness to see him than ever, wherever Nadal winds up in 2013, he has not seen the last of the camera crews

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