Nadal accelerating rehab on abdominal injury in bid to play ATP Finals

Rafael Nadal is starting rehab on his abdominal injury in a bid to play the ATP Tour Finals in London.

The 33-year-old, who withdrew from the semifinal of the Paris Masters, began hitting again yesterday in London. According to his doctor, the next step is to try to resume serving—the stroke that is most affected by the injury—and then make a decision about playing.

"It's a strain and we must take care of it," Dr. Angel Ruiz Cotorro told EFE. "The scans do not show any tear.

"He will follow a specific treatment in this region.''

That will include physiotherapy, anti-inflammatory treatment and a radio frequency device to speed up healing, something which has been previously used by Nadal.

"We will look at the way it evolves and then, as soon as he can, start to re-adjust to serving," said Ruiz Cotorro. "So he can start at the Masters Cup [Tour Finals] in good condition."

The rest of Nadal's game is not affected, he added.

Nadal was filmed hitting with his coach Carlos Moya yesterday, having announced the day before that "the idea was to play" and he would be traveling to London.

The Spaniard will be competing with Novak Djokovic for the No. 1 ranking, and can secure it with a good performance at the event. He has repeatedly withdrawn or been injured and never won the ATP Tour Finals during his career.

Nadal is the second seed at the event, playing Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas in round-robin group competition.