After the premature ending to his 2014 season, world No. 3 Rafael Nadal has confirmed his participation in the 2015 season-opening event in Abu Dhabi – the Mubadala World Tennis Championships.

Nadal was diagnosed with appendicitis during the Shanghai Rolex Masters in September and did not end his 2014 season until a quarter-final loss to 17-year-old Borna Coric in Basel. He eventually withdrew from the Paris Bercy and the ATP World Tour Finals and underwent successful surgery to rectify the problem.

“It’s unfortunate that I had to miss the end of this season, but the time off will allow me to become even more focused on what I want to accomplish in 2015,” Nadal told gulfnews.com. “I have missed a couple of opportunities to play big competitive matches now so playing in Abu Dhabi in January for me is really important.”

Nadal is a two-time champion at the event (2010-11) and also finished runner-up to Andy Murray in 2009.

“I’ve got history here, which makes the event even more special to me. The crowd is always full of energy, which makes us want to play even better, and with this type of competition format we have to be on our game the entire three days. I hope the crowds will be in for some great action on court.”

The official tournament draw is yet to be released. The event takes place between January 1-3, 2015.