Nadal draws inspiration from Ronaldo, who also had knee problems

Rafael Nadal is drawing inspiration from the Brazilian soccer great Ronaldo as he returns from an injury.

With Ronaldo watching, Nadal won the Brazil Open on Sunday for his first title after a seven-month layoff caused by treatment of his left knee. Nadal said Ronaldo is "an example" to be followed because of his determination to rebound from a series of career-threatening knee injuries, tennis.com reports.

Despite winning again, the Spaniard is still bothered by his knee and said he is far from fully recovered, although he hopes the victory will mark a new beginning in his career.

"Ronaldo is an example to a lot of people because of all that he was able to achieve despite what he had to go through with all the knee problems in his career," Nadal said. "He is definitely an example to me. He's an example of determination and hard work."

Nadal will play another clay-court tournament in Mexico this month and hopes to be fully fit by the French Open. He hopes to play at Indian Wells, Calif., next month but hasn't made a decision.

"We are thinking day to day, week to week," the 26-year-old said. "We'll see how I feel before making a decision on where I'll be playing in the near future, it will depend on how the knee improves."