Rafael Nadal had a disappointing stint at the 2015 Qatar Open in Doha, but the Spanish tennis superstar confirmed he will participate at the 2015 Australian Open in Melbourne, Australia.

Nadal ended talks about the possibility of him skipping the Australian Open when he confirmed on his official Twitter account that he will travel to Melbourne on Sunday to prepare for the first Grand Slam event of the year.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion, who missed the final two months of competition last year after undergoing appendectomy, took a disappointing 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 upset loss to German qualifier Michael Berrer in the opening round of the Qatar Open on Tuesday.

Nadal previously said he wanted to score a win or two in Doha in order to regain his confidence after also losing to Andy Murray at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship last week. Following his shock loss to Berrer, Nadal hinted that he might miss the Australian Open.

"I also want to play in the Australian Open which is a tournament I like a lot. I don't know if that will be the case either, but I am going to work for it," Nadal said via CNN. "If not I will be playing at Rio and Buenos Aires. The season is long. After coming back from injury you can't see the immediate moment, you have to look further ahead a little bit."

With Nadal confirming his participation, tournament organizers expressed relief as they avoided losing another key player. French tennis ace Jo-Wilfried Tsonga recently announced he will skip the tournament due to a forearm strain.

"It is with great disappointment that I have to postpone today the start of my season, pulling out of the Australian Open," Tsonga said via Sydney Morning Herald. "I'm still suffering from a forearm inflammation and that prevents me from being at full capacity."

This year's Australian Open will be the biggest in tournament history in terms of prize money. According to the organizers, the total price this year will be $40 million -- higher than the $33 million total prize money last year.

Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said they decided to increase the prize money to show commitment to players. The winner of the men and women singles event will get $3.1 million.

"Obviously this is not a decision we have taken without a lot of consideration," Tiley said in a statement. "But we have an ongoing commitment to the players that we are determined to help improve the pay and conditions of life on the international tennis tour."

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