With Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldo watching, Rafael Nadal won the
Brazil Open on Sunday — his first title after a seven-month layoff
caused by treatment of his left knee.
Nadal said Ronaldo is "an example" to be followed because of his
determination to rebound from a series of career-threatening knee
injuries.
"He was unstoppable, one of the best players of all time despite all the bad luck he had with the knee," Nadal said.
His victory notwithstanding, the Spaniard said he is still bothered
by his knee and is far from fully recovered. He hopes his Sunday will
mark a new beginning in his career.
"There are days that the knee still hurts and it's very complicated,"
he said. "I need some time to keep improving and become more
competitive again. Let's see how it goes."
Out of action since last year because a torn and inflamed tendon in
his knee, on Sunday he beat former world No. 3 David Nalbandian of
Argentina 6-2, 6-3 to win his 51st title, and first since beating Novak
Djokovic last June for his seventh French Open championship.
The Brazil Open was Nadal's second tournament since his return. He
played at the VTR Open in Chile the week before, losing the singles and
doubles final. The final in Brazil was only his eighth singles match
since the comeback.
The 11-time Grand Slam champion admitted the level of the competition in Brazil was not as high as in other tournaments
Nadal will play another clay-court tournament in Mexico this month
and hopes to be fully fit by the French Open. He hopes to play at Indian
Wells, Calif., next month but hasn't made a decision.
"We are thinking day to day, week to week," the 26-year-old said. "We'll
see how I feel before making a decision on where I'll be playing in the
near future, it will depend on how the knee improves."
