King of Clay Rafael Nadal believes that he will start to hit top gear only when he is nearing the clay court season. The Spaniard has written himself off in the first few weeks of his return, as he believes he will not be as match fit.

The former World No.1 does however believe that by the time we reach the European clay court season, he should be back to his peak. Nadal’s has only released his schedule for the first three months where he will play in Doha and the Australian Open followed by a clay court event in Acapulco, Mexico which last a week starting on the 25th February.

Despite saying that he will play lesser hard court events starting next year, Nadal will surely play the US hard court season at Indian Wells and then in Miami. One has to think that the Spaniard would be nearing his peak by that time. The former Aussie Open champion has also confirmed his participation at the Barcelona Open, where he is the defending champion.

The Southpaw was scheduled to return at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships that start today, but unfortunately caught a stomach bug and had to pull out.