Nadal return a welcome sight

Rafael Nadal was unable to defend his title at Indian Wells, going down to a surprise defeat to Ivan Ljubicic, but it was a fantastic sight for tennis fans to see the Spaniard back on court.

It was his first appearance on court since retiring injured against Andy Murray at the Australian Open in January. At that time it looked grim for Nadal, as the recurrence of his knee injury looked serious. Nadal’s camp played down the severity of the problem and it would appear they were justified by his appearance at Indian Wells.

He breezed through the first few rounds and looked primed to defend his title, but came up short against Ljubicic. It was a surprise to see Nadal slip to defeat to a player he should have been well equipped to beat, but there were positives to be gleaned from his trip to California.

The hard courts of America are not the ideal surface for Nadal’s suspect knees, but he scampered round the courts without any signs of weakness and provided he comes through unscathed at Miami he can look forward to the clay court season with relish.

Nadal is the king of Roland Garros and with as many doubts about his rivals as his own knees, the stage could be set for the Spaniard to make a quite stunning return to the top of the sport.