Rafael Nadal to return next month at Brazil Open

French Open champion Rafa Nadal will make his long-awaited comeback from injury at next month's Brazil Open, the ATP confirmed on Tuesday.

The Mallorcan former world number one has been sidelined with a knee injury since last year's Wimbledon tournament and his hopes of returning at the Australian Open were hit by illness.

It will be Nadal's first appearance on the tour in South America since 2005. The tournament is staged indoors in Sao Paulo.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by John Mehaffey)