A medical official attends to Nadal of Spain during his quarter-final match against compatriot Ferrer at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne.
A medical official attends to Nadal of Spain during his quarter-final match against compatriot Ferrer at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne. Reuters

After a feeble end to his Australian Open campaign, in which he was eliminated by David Ferrer in the quarter-final stages after suffering a leg injury, Rafael Nadal expects to be back in action by mid-February.

The World number one was beaten by his fellow Spaniard Ferrer 6-4 6-2 6-3 after he damaged a muscle in his right leg. The defeat had ended Nadal's, and any Tennis player's, dream of holding all the four Grand Slam titles, which was dubbed 'the Rafa slam'. It was also his first loss in a major since retiring with a knee injury against Britain's Andy Murray in the 2010 Australian Open quarter-finals.

After the match, Nadal refused to discuss the injury in respect for his opponent. He had said, I would prefer not to talk about it. For respect to the winner and a friend, I'd prefer to talk about the match.

However, a statement on the World No. 1's website on Wednesday said, Doctors estimate a recovery period of about 10 days from today.

He is currently on the mend at his home-town of Mallorca, Spain and on evidence of the statement, he can recover in time to prepare for Spain's Davis Cup tie against Belgium on 4 March.

He will then play the ATP Masters event in Indian Wells and Miami before the next Grand Slam - Roland Garros.

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