Cape Town - World No 1 Rafael Nadal aims to make his return from injury at Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala World Tennis Championship later this month.

Nadal’s bid at last month’s season-ending ATP Finals ended abruptly when he suffered a knee injury in his opening match against David Goffin.

However, the issue didn’t prove to be a serious one and Nadal is already back in training and targeting the exhibition event in the UAE, which begins on December 28.

That will help the Spaniard knock off the rust before January’s Brisbane International, which serves as the warm-up tournament for the Australian Open.

"It's true that I finished with an injury, so I've taken a bit of time to recover well," said the 31-year-old.

"That's why I've taken a couple of weeks off and I did my treatment and I need to start again, as I said before, slow. So, that's my goal - try to be ready for the beginning (of the season).

"I am going to try to play in Abu Dhabi and Brisbane before Australia, so that will be the ideal situation. And let's try to make that happen."

Nadal returned to the No 1 ranking after a stellar 2017 season, which saw him win two Grand Slams - the French and US Opens.

He boasts 16 major titles, trailing only Roger Federer, who has 19.