Nadal makes winning return after 7 months

VINA DEL MAR, Chile - Rafael Nadal wants to stop talking about the inflamed left knee that kept him away from the ATP Tour for just over seven months until his doubles victory Tuesday with Juan Monaco at a little-known clay court tournament in Chile.

Nadal, whose knee problem has lingered despite on-going therapy, had not played since June 28 when he was upset in the second round of Wimbledon by qualifier Lukas Rosol.

Nadal and Monaco won easily in just over an hour at the VTR Open, defeating the Czech pair of Frantisek Cermak and Lukas Dlouhy 6-3, 6-2.

The former No. 1-ranked Nadal addressed the question of his knee for several minutes, then said he wanted to drop the subject and concentrate on tennis.

“The knee - I said it when I got here. I would prefer not to keep talking about the topic,” Nadal said. AP