Rafael Nadal's hopeful he'll play in his 1st Western & Southern Open in 5 years

"Happy to be back in Cincinnati," Rafael Nadal began his press conference Sunday as he prepares for his first Western & Southern Open since 2017.

Nadal's also happy to be playing tennis again. The 36-year-old from Spain hasn't played since last month when an abdominal tear forced him to withdraw from the semifinals at Wimbledon.

Returning has been a process, one Nadal's taken it slowly and deliberately.

"(The) abdominal is a place that is dangerous because in every serve you put a lot of effort there so I need to take the things a little bit easier and do the things the proper way," Nadal said. "That's what I'm trying to do. Trying to be a little more conservative, but I hope that I can be ready for the action here."

First, it was 10 serves. Then 20. For the last week and a half, Nadal said he's been practicing his serve.

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"But very easy," he said. "I played my first set here before yesterday. Of course, I need some more days to analyze how things are going in terms of abdominal feeling because ... more than one month without serving, without playing any sets, I need to analyze after every day if the abdominal is still OK with no (bad) feelings because it's as I say, a dangerous thing.

"Things are going well for the moment so hopefully, I can manage to be ready. I am excited to play tennis again on the tour. I want to enjoy this week in Cincinnati."

The W&S Open has already announced that if he's ready, Nadal will play on Wednesday night. His opponent has yet to be determined, but whoever he plays, there will likely be a ravenous crowd packed in to see him after five years away from Cincinnati, a place he still has fond memories of.

"Here I achieved the World No. 1 for the first time in my career in 2008," Nadal said. "So good memories of that and, of course, 2013, the title.

"... One year ago I didn't know if I would have the chance to come back ever to Cincinnati but here I am and excited for that."

The 22-time major champion is battling this week against Daniil Medvedev for the World No. 1 ranking. Nadal would need to win the W&S Open title and would need Medvedev to stumble before the quarterfinals. It's a battle that will decide the top seed at the upcoming U.S. Open, but it's not something on Nadal's mind.

"What really means a lot is (to) stay healthy," said Nadal. "If that happens then the rest of the things can happen, if not, (they) can't happen."

This week is about staying healthy and working to find the form that helped him to win four titles earlier this year.

"You need to know that when you come back after a while things are not gonna be perfect," he said. "You can't expect to play at an amazing level from the beginning. Knowing that, accepting that ‒ be humble enough to fight with the tools you have at the beginning to win the first match, then when you win a match or two matches things change. You start to feel competitive again."

And, as Nadal pointed out, the level of competition at the W&S Open, a Masters 1000 event, is demanding.

"You need to play at a high level, so that's what I need to do," Nadal said.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Western & Southern Open: Rafael Nadal hopeful to make return