Nadal hopes to be back in action at start of next year post successful appendix surgery

Former world number one Rafael Nadal is hoping to be back in action in January next year after he underwent appendix surgery on Monday, with the operation passing off smoothly.

Nadal's management company B1PR revealed on their Twitter page that the tennis ace was feeling well, and the surgery went well, and also added that if everything goes as planned he would be out of the hospital on Tuesday.

The Spanish 14-time Grand Slam champion ended his season prematurely after a quarterfinal loss at the Swiss Indoors last month ahead of his date under the knife to remove his appendix, Sport24 reported.

At the time Nadal had said that he needed to do the surgery, adding that he needed to work on his back next week before the operation and then needs five weeks to recover.

Nadal has been taking antibiotics to treat appendicitis since early October.

Missing last week's Paris Masters and the season-closing World Tour Finals starting Sunday in London he reflected that if he plays the last two tournaments, he would not be competitive and would have no chance to win.

Nadal said that it is better for him to recover, adding that he hopes to be back at the start of 2015 ready for anything.