AS.com

The Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal is in the "final stage" of recovery from his knee injury and is due to make his comeback to the circuit next month in Brazil, "as forseen", explained Ángel Ruíz-Cotorro, the Spanish Tennis Federation's head of medical services.

Nadal passed a medical test today at the Mapfre Tennis Clinic in Barcelona, where he's been training recently.

Under the supervision of doctor Ruíz-Cotorro, the tennis player underwent an ultrasound scan to check the state of the patellar tendon in his left knee, which has kept him off the court for the last six months.

The ex-world number one was due to return to competition at the end of December in Abu Dhabi, but a stomach virus forced him to rest and delay his comeback.

After checking that Nadal's knee is in the right condition to return to the court, federation doctors together with the player's coaching staff drew up a special preparation programme to ready him for his return to the circuit at the Brazil Open, which starts on the 11^th February, the first event in the South American clay season.

"The tests confirm that Rafa's recovery is going well. Medically speaking we're in the final stage and the results have been really satisfactory. The return to the circuit is expected to be as forseen", said doctor Ruíz-Cotorro.