Nadal set for his first hardcourt test on comeback

INDIAN WELLS, California (Reuters) - Buoyant after a successful tournament run on clay in recent weeks, Rafa Nadal knows he will face the toughest test of his injury comeback at the BNP Paribas Open starting on Thursday.

Following a shock second-round exit at Wimbledon last year, the Spanish left-hander was sidelined for seven months by a left knee injury and he now returns to the hard courts of Indian Wells, a surface where his all-action, fist-pumping game has always been most vulnerable.