Rafael Nadal expressed confidence that he will be able to compete at a high level at the 2015 Australian Open next month after being slowed down by injuries over the past several months.

Nadal, who recently underwent appendicitis surgery and stem cell treatment on his back, recently said in a Facebook post that he is back on court training for his return in January.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion admitted, though, that he will have to start from scratch after being inactive for the majority of the year.

"It's always a bit tough starting off after a few difficult months, without any continuity, and after the last month and half without being able to play any sport and the appendicitis," Nadal said via The Guardian.

Aside from appendicitis and nagging back injury, Nadal also spent three months on the sideline because of wrist injury, which forced him to skip his U.S. Open title defense.

Nadal said that he will have to work harder in training in the next several weeks to have a great start in 2015. The Spanish tennis superstar will compete in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Jan. 1 and in Doha, Qatar the following week.

The 28-year-old said that he is hoping that both tournaments will help him reach his competitive form in time for the Australian Open, where he finished second to Stanislas Wawrinka earlier this year.

"What I have to do this month is to get myself fit physically, progress my tennis as much as possible and lay the foundations to start well in Abu Dhabi and in Doha," Nadal added. "[Then] take advantage of those tournaments to recover the competitiveness that I've not had for months due to the injuries."

Nadal, who missed the season-ending 2014 ATP World Tour Final in London, is hoping for a healthy year in 2015, but he is still unsure at this point if he can continue his streak of winning at least one Grand Slam in a season.

"Nobody has managed to go 10 successive years winning a grand slam, it's a lot. I don't know if I will be able to," said Nadal, who has won at least one Grand Slam since 2005. "But neither am I thinking about it. What I must do is play well, prepare, and when the moment comes, give myself opportunities. If one of those is in the final rounds, anything could happen."

For the latest sports news, follow Latin Post Sports on Twitter.

FOR MORE TENNIS NEWS UPDATES, CLICK ON THIS LINK TO VISIT LATIN POST.COM'S SPORTS PAGE.