Rafael Nadal has stated that returning to the top spot in tennis is not a target of his this year as he prepares for a competitive return at the Brisbane International.

The Spanish star endured a difficult 2018, playing just nine tournaments before undergoing ankle surgery in November.
Nadal finished the year with a 45-4 win-loss record and five titles, ending up second to Novak Djokovic in the rankings.

“It’s not my goal. My goal is just to be happy doing what I am doing and be competitive all the ways that I’m playing,” Nadal told a news conference on Tuesday.

“I want to feel competitive every day that I am on court and I want to keep fighting for the things that really make me feel alive, for the things that motivate me.

“If I play like I played last year, I played so well all the tournaments that I played, and at the end, I have a chance, fantastic.

“Of course I prefer to be number one than be number two and I prefer to be number two than number five, that’s obvious, but my main goal is to stay healthy, stay happy and try to play as long as possible.”

The 17-time grand slam champion is set to play his first competitive match since September when he faces either Thanasi Kokkinakis or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Thursday.

While the 32-year-old offered no guarantees he would be ready, Nadal hopes to take his place as expected.

“I hope so. That’s why I’m here,” he said.

“If I really thought that I would not play here, it would be difficult for me to be here, to be around, to be in front of you today. But as I said, I don’t want to take steps back, I want to make steps forward and for me, the main thing is to do things the better way possible to stay healthy.

“My hope and my goal, of course, is to be on court on Thursday and to be on the court with a positive feeling.”

Andy Murray made a winning start to 2019 but said he does not know how much longer he will be able to play top-level tennis after hip surgery.

Britain's former world number one beat Australian wildcard James Duckworth 6-3 6-4 at the Brisbane International in his first match since September.

Scot Murray, 31, struggled to contain his emotions as he told how last year had been "really hard".

Also in the first round, Briton Johanna Konta beat Sloane Stephens 6-4 6-3.

Murray is a three-time Grand Slam winner but currently ranked 240 in the world after only playing six tournaments in 2018.

"It's not easy to sort of sum up in one sentence or one answer," he said at the event, one of the warm-up competitions for the Australian Open, which starts on 14 January.

"It's been a really hard 18 months, a lot of ups and downs - it's been tricky to just get back on the court competing again.

"So I'm happy I'm back out here again. I want to try and enjoy it as much as I can and just try and enjoy playing tennis as long as I can. I don't know how much longer it's going to last but we'll see."

Murray broke Duckworth three times in a match that lasted just short of 90 minutes.

The double Wimbledon champion will next face number four seed Daniil Medvedev ranked 16 in the world.

Murray earlier said farewell to 2018 with a tongue-in-cheek Instagram post where he pretended to be drowning his sorrows.

"Celebrating the end of 2018. What a shit year that was," he wrote.
Konta 'trying to create something new'

In her first meeting with 2017 US Open winner and world number six Stephens, Konta survived two break points in the opening game before winning in one hour 52 minutes.

"The first three games took about half an hour, so there was very little in it, especially in that first set at the beginning," Konta said.

"I'm just very happy I was able to maintain my level quite consistently throughout."

British number one Konta, 27, will play Australia's world number 46 Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round.

"The most important thing is to keep moving forward," she said.

"I'm not trying to recreate something that I had. I'm trying to create something new and something better. I just keep looking ahead and I keep trusting in the work that I do.

"Nothing ever is straight sailing and a constant upward trajectory. I'm enjoying what I do - even through the challenges."

Roger Federer couldn’t contain himself after his Swiss teammate’s unintentionally suggestive revelation about the secret to their success.

It’s the tennis match that just keeps on giving.
The mixed doubles clash between Switzerland and United States at the Hopman Cup in Perth on Tuesday — which featured tennis royalty Roger Federer and Serena Williams — delighted the world.
There were cracking shots, heartwarming exchanges and a selfie that has gone around the globe.

"Roger motivated me in the locker room" pic.twitter.com/hgRLQrAyFy

— Troll Sports (@TroIISports) January 1, 2019

But the funniest moment came after Federer and Swiss teammate Belinda Bencic wrapped up a victory against Williams and Francis Tiafoe.
The pair joined Aussie doubles legend Todd Woodbridge for an on-court interview — and it quickly went off the rails after an unintentionally hilarious slip by Bencic.

Tennis Australia warned after GOAT battle
The world number 54 bounced back from a tough singles defeat against Williams to shine in the mixed doubles, returning exceptionally well against Tiafoe’s serve.
Asked by Woodbridge about her ability to respond, Bencic said: “It was very difficult but I am very happy — Roger motivated me in the locker room”.
While Bencic didn’t immediately realize the suggestive nature of her phrasing, Federer sure did and got the giggles.

43 singles Grand Slam titles in one selfie. pic.twitter.com/3uZe0JgZQ1

— Troll Sports (@TroIISports) January 1, 2019

“I hope you’re not sharing locker rooms,” Woodbridge said.
“No! Not in the locker room, in the gym,” said Bencic, as she attempted to recover. “In front of the locker room.”
“Just to be very, very clear here,” Federer added, to a roar of laughter from the crowd.
“This cannot get any worse,” Bencic laughed.
Federer gave Switzerland a 1-0 lead with a 6-4 6-1 win over Tiafoe before Williams overcame a case of the first-set wobbles to post a 4-6 6-4 6-3 win over Bencic, leveling the tie.
The mixed doubles clash was always going to hog the spotlight given it was the first time Federer had faced off against Williams in a competitive match. But the fact it would also decide the tie winner added extra intrigue.
The US, who lost to Greece in their opening tie, needed to beat Switzerland to keep their title hopes alive.
But it was Switzerland who came out on top, winning the Fast4 format 4-2 4-3 (5-3) in 46 minutes.
Switzerland, who have won both of their ties, will guarantee themselves a spot in the final with victory over Greece on Thursday night.

From animal meetings to Andy Murray getting advice from Naomi Osaka, and Eugenie Bouchard getting new “babies”, Tennis Today has you covered.

What’s on the site
Serena Williams added yet another award to her collection as she was named The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year.

The 2019 tennis season is upon us and our punter Derek Bilton has you covered with betting tips.

Stefanos Tsitsipas has laid down his goals for 2019 after enjoying a stunning breakthrough last season.

What’s in the news
Former world No 1 Lleyton Hewitt has once again come out of retirement as he will play doubles with Alex de Minaur at the Brisbane International, according to Fox Sports.

Robin Soderling says it is “loopy” that Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic are still dominating tennis, reports Accent Podcast via Express Sport.

This was a pre-Xmas piece from Telegraph Sport on Johanna Konta admitting that “she needs to get better at ‘chilling out'”.

And going back in even further as this brilliant piece from Camelia Butuliga in Treizecizero.ro is nearly two months old, but a Darren Cahill tweet brought it to our attention.

She writes “Cahill did not just coach Simona Halep. He coached an entire country”.

What’s on social media
Andy Murray has touched down Down Under.

Sir Andy Murray has touched down in Brisbane, welcome back to the two-time champion @andy_murray #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/5vJ3et90Re

— Engr. Faith (@olafaith0001) December 28, 2018

This is not how Nick Kyrgios would have envisaged spending his Christmas ahead of a busy summer of tennis and a title defence.

Nick Kyrgios is set to fly into Queensland to prepare for his Brisbane International title defence after spending Christmas in the hospital nursing a spider bite.
Organisers said Kyrgios, 23, was on track to arrive in Brisbane on Friday after the tennis star revealed on social media he had a far from a festive time during the holidays.
World No.35 Kyrgios had to be treated in a Canberra hospital over Christmas after being bitten on the foot.
“Got a spider bite on my foot. Christmas different every year,” Kyrgios posted on Instagram.
The former world No.13 also added a picture of him with an intravenous drip with the caption: “This spider bite outta control.”

Organizers were confident the hospital visit would not derail Kyrgios’ preparations, saying his Brisbane International plans were still in place.
Kyrgios is the eighth seed at the Brisbane International which starts on Sunday.
He is hoping to bounce back in 2019 after his ranking slipped from world No.21 to 35.
Kyrgios began the year in style by claiming the Brisbane crown in January — his fourth career title — when he defeated American Ryan Harrison in the final.

However, it was his only tournament triumph in 2018.
He entered 16 events but after his Brisbane win only advanced past the round of 16 four times — none at a grand slam.
His frustrating season ended abruptly in October due to a recurring elbow injury, forcing his withdrawal from Moscow’s Kremlin Cup.

World number one Rafael Nadal has pulled out of next month's China Open and Shanghai Masters tournaments, to allow his knee injury to recover.

The injury forced the 32-year-old to retire from his US Open semi-final earlier this month.

He also missed Spain's Davis Cup semi-final defeat by France at the weekend.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion, who has suffered from tendonitis in his knee in the past, could return for the Paris Masters at the end of October.

"While the annoyances on my knee are nothing new, we have decided together with my medical and technical team, not to participate in the Asian tour to recover the knee the way we have always done," he tweeted.

The China Open, which starts on 1 October, and Shanghai Masters, starting on 7 October, form the main part of the Asian leg of the ATP Tour.

Nadal has reached four Grand Slam finals in the past two years - winning the US Open in 2017 and back-to-back French Open titles in 2017 and 2018.

He also reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open this year, as well as the semi-finals at Wimbledon.

British number one Johanna Konta was knocked out in the Pan Pacific Open last-16 in a straight-set defeat by Croatia's Donna Vekic.

World number 43 Konta lost 6-3 7-5 in one hour 22 minutes in Tokyo.

Having lost the opening set, Konta, 27, was 4-1 up and had a chance to serve for the second before the 22-year-old fought back.

Vekic, who beat Sloane Stephens in the opening round, faces French second seed Caroline Garcia in the quarter-finals.

Garcia, the world number four, beat Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 2-6 7-5 to reach the last eight.

Vekic earned an early break and held on to edge a tight first set from Konta, but the Briton looked to be in control of the second.

Konta was two breaks up at one point and holding a 4-1 lead, and then had the chance to serve for the set before Vekic recovered to take a 6-5 advantage.

The Briton, who racked up 38 unforced errors in the match, then lost a second successive service game to love as world number 45 Vekic progressed.

"I played really well towards the end of the match and I am really happy to win this in two sets," said Vekic.