Nadal to continue playing in Shanghai despite appendicitis

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  • Defiant: Rafael Nadal has just returned to action from a wrist injury.

    World No2 Rafael Nadal has decided to play the Shanghai Masters despite suffering from appendicitis.

    The Spaniard, who returned from a right wrist injury for the first time since Wimbledon at the Beijing Open last week, has made numerous visits to the hospital in Shanghai, where he was given medication.

    He says he won’t be opting for surgery at the moment and will attempt to play his opening match against his good friend and countryman Feliciano Lopez in the second round on Wednesday.

    “I was in the hospital on Sunday,” Nadal told reporters in Shanghai. “Yesterday the nurse came to my room to give me the treatment again. Today I was at the hospital in the morning again. I had again the antibiotics. It seems like everything is under control now. The normal thing for the improvement to continue. I’m not going to go for surgery. That’s great news for me today. That’s why I’m here practising for 45 minutes and trying to play tomorrow. But obviously I am not in my best condition.”

    The left-hander added that he might eventually have to undergo surgery to remove his appendix but he will postpone this decision until he returns home to Mallorca.

    “It is true that the doctor here told me that (eventually) I have to take it out. Because when you have it once, the normal thing is that it is going to come back. Sooner or later I have to take it out," he said.

    Nadal, a runner-up in Shanghai in 2009, lost in the quarter-finals in Beijing last week to Martin Klizan and has played just three matches since his fourth round exit at Wimbledon three months ago.

    He has already qualified to the ATP World Tour Finals in London but could drop to No3 in the rankings this week with Roger Federer just a mere 285 points behind him.

    The 28-year-old is not too concerned about his position in the world rankings though and is focused on getting himself on court against Lopez today.

    “The positive thing is I am feeling better today than yesterday. Yesterday I felt a little bit better than the day before. I hope tomorrow I will feel better than today. That’s why I want to try. I am in Shanghai. I am here to play a tournament. If I don’t play, I don’t have the possibility to win. So that’s it,” said Nadal.

    Shanghai is the first tournament since Wimbledon which will see Nadal, Federer and Novak Djokovic all competing in the same event.

    Djokovic, who captured a fifth straight Beijing title on Sunday, is gunning for a third consecutive trophy in Shanghai as he targets the year-end No1 ranking.

    Federer’s best showing at the Masters 1000 event was as runner up in 2010, although he did win in Shanghai when it hosted the Tennis Masters Cup in 2006 and 2007.

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