Nadal unsure if he's ready for Aussie Open

ABU DHABI • Despite training partners Andrey Rublev and Denis Shapovalov declaring Rafael Nadal had "killed" them during last week's practice, the Spaniard is still uncertain of his Australian Open participation.

The first Grand Slam of the year starts in just under a month but, after making his first appearance on a tennis court since August, the 20-time Major champion remains unsure about his fitness.

Last season was an injury-riddled one for Nadal, with the former world No. 1 spending four months on the sidelines with a foot injury and he had to pull out of Wimbledon, the Tokyo Olympics and the US Open.

After narrow defeats by Andy Murray and Shapovalov at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi over the weekend, the 35-year-old admitted the exhibition was not a good-enough gauge of where he stands ahead of Melbourne Park.

"The idea is to go there and try my best there in Australia... Being 100 per cent honest, I can't guarantee it (my attendance)," Nadal said.

"I need to speak with my team. It's more than six months since the last real official match. Things are difficult and I accept that... I was able to compete in both matches and even had my chances, so if we put that in perspective, it's a very positive thing.

"I went through this process unfortunately a lot of times in my tennis career, but I need to practise and I need to be healthy enough to go through this process. If that happens, I'm confident that I will be back."

On his future, the world No. 6 said he would hang up his racket if he did not feel he was competitive enough to challenge for the biggest titles.

"I am not playing at all for money or just for fun, I am playing to keep achieving goals or at least to enjoy the process to try to achieve my goals," he added.

"If then you don't achieve, it's fine, but the motivation and the passion is still there."

Fifth-ranked Rublev, who beat Murray 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) in Saturday's final, will be another one to watch as he seeks his maiden Slam when the Australian Open begins on Jan 17.

REUTERS