INDIAN WELLS, Calif._ Being placed in the same quarter of the BNP Paribas Open draw as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic would be enough to make any player queasy, but it wasn't his incredibly difficult draw that made Rafael Nadal feel ill as he prepared for this tournament.
Nadal, seeded fifth, didn't specify what had befallen him but he said Friday he's feeling better.
"I was a little bit sick for two days. I couldn't practice for two days. I started practicing (Thursday) for the first time and today I practiced again and have doubles," he said at a news conference. "It's obvious that when you get sick you lose a little bit of power for a couple of days, so I hope to recover myself good and feel myself ready to compete at the highest level possible."
But he dodged a question about how he envisioned the draw might unfold. There's a possibility he and Federer could meet in the fourth round and rekindle memories of their emotional matchup in the Australian Open final, which Federer won in five sets. For now, Nadal said he's not looking beyond his opener, in which he will face Guido Pella of Argentina.
"If things go well," Nadal said, "we will have time to talk about the draw."
