Shoulder injury hampering Rafael Nadal's preparations for 2012

Two-time defending Abu Dhabi champion Rafael Nadal revealed that a shoulder injury he picked up before the World Tour Finals in London has interrupted his preparations for the new season.

Despite his nagging injury, Nadal managed to win the Davis Cup final for Spain against Argentina earlier this month, but the 25-year-old played that tie in Sevilla under the influence of painkillers, and he admits that since then, the shoulder has been a problem.

“I had a problem before London in my shoulder, I had to stop for ten days before the World Tour Finals in London. I got better, I was OK. After the first match against [Mardy] Fish I felt it a little bit another time, but next day I had an infiltration (injection) in the shoulder and it worked fantastic, I was able to play perfect the next two days in London and the Davis Cup.

“But after the last match in the Davis Cup against Del Potro I felt the shoulder. I didn’t want to stop in December, because I understand that I don’t have enough time to stop and to practice to prepare for the next season. So two days later on Wednesday I was on court practising and on Friday I had to stop, I had a problem on the shoulder.

“I really didn’t know if I was able to come here until three days ago. I didn’t know if I had enough practice. I practiced as much as I can, not as much as I would like, and hopefully the shoulder will work well, it’s not 100 per cent perfect, it’s better, that’s why I’m here.”

The Mallorcan, who said he only practiced his serve for one day, is unsure about the outcome of his trips to Abu Dhabi and next week in Doha, but believes it will give him some much-needed practice for the Australian Open next month.

He says: “For me it’s always exciting to be back here in Abu Dhabi and the beginning of the season is always important and I believe, I hope I made the right decision to be here and to be in Doha next week because even if I’m not in my best condition, if I’m not playing my best because I didn’t have enough time to practice, being here and practising with the rest of the professional players will help me a lot in Australia.

“I understand this tournament for me is like a practice especially in the situation that I am in today. It’s not like the last few years that I arrived in very good conditions, no problems, had a very good practice in Mallorca. This year I had a very good practice but only for one week. So I understand it’s not enough. I understand this tournament is not a tennis level test for me, this year it’s a test for my shoulder and just practice for Australia, this year it’s like this.

“Hopefully I’ll be fine. But I only practiced my serve one day. So I will see how it will respond. It’s true that last week my shoulder improved a lot especially playing with my forehand because two weeks I really couldn’t play my forehand. I really hope that the shoulder will give the right answer.”

Nadal, who faces David Ferrer in the semi-finals on Friday, explained the need to add new variety to his game, to be able to challenge the rest of the field. He says: “I think that last year I played sometimes a little bit predictable. My game doesn’t have enough surprise for my opponents especially the last part of the year, that’s true. That’s what I believe. I have to play more aggressive, change a little bit more directions, not play every point the same and last year I think at the end of the season I think I was predictable.”