World number two Rafael Nadal has pulled out of this month's Australian Open saying he is not yet fit enough to face the demands of a grand slam tennis tournament.

The 19-year-old Spaniard told a news conference in Barcelona that he was in the final stages of recovery from an injury to his left foot and was still struggling for full fitness.

"The Australian Open is too important a tournament for me to go to without having an option to win it," he said.

"The truth is that I haven't played a tournament since the final of the Madrid Masters (in October) and I've only been training at a competitive level for 10 days.

"I'm quite happy with the way I have recovered and the foot has improved quite a lot recently and I can now play almost without any pain.

"But I still need to recover full confidence in my foot and find that spark needed to play at the top level."

"I'm young and I know that I will have other opportunities to play in a tournament that I really want to take part in again."

Nadal sustained the injury at the end of last season and was forced to withdraw from the Masters Cup in Shanghai in November.

The Spaniard is now targeting the Marseille Open, which begins on Feb. 13, for his return to tournament action but he has yet to decide if he will take part in Spain's Davis Cup tie against Belarus during the previous weekend.

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