Tennis superstar Rafael Nadal has celebrated an impressive comeback after an injury break of almost a year. The 22-time Grand Slam champion defeated former US Open winner Dominic Thiem (Austria) 7:5, 6:1 in the first round of the ATP tournament in Brisbane and will face local hero Jason Kubler in the round of 16.
With this success, Nadal has also climbed to fourth place in the rankings for the most wins on the ATP tour, leaving tennis icon Ivan Lendl behind him. Only Jimmy Connors (1274), Roger Federer (1251) and Novak Djokovic (1088), who passed during Nadal’s injury break last season, are ahead of the Spaniard.
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Nadal last played at the Australian Open in January 2023 and then underwent hip flexor surgery. A long period of suffering began.
Nadal: “Playing here makes me proud”
“This is an emotional and important day for me. It was one of the hardest years of my career. Playing here makes me proud,” said Nadal: “Thanks to everyone who was there for me all year.”
The 37-year-old is currently only 672nd in the world rankings, but thanks to his “Protected Ranking” status he does not have to compete in the qualification. In addition, Nadal would almost certainly have otherwise received a wildcard for the main draw anyway.
Against Thiem, who won his only Grand Slam title against Alexander Zverev in the final thriller in New York in 2020, Nadal dominated, especially with his own serve and with his forehand; the Mallorcan did not show any physical problems. After 1:29 hours he converted his first match point.
His tennis colleagues were also very impressed. The Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina asked in disbelief on X: “Nadal hasn’t played for a year? What a level”. He added the screaming emoji after it, because this doesn’t mean anything good for the competition over the entire season.
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Boris Becker’s protégé Holger Rune also didn’t miss the chance and watched Nadal’s match against Thiem in the stadium. The Dane had already raved about his level after training with Nadal.
“I missed feeling healthy and being competitive. I’m very grateful,” said Nadal himself, 349 days after his second-round exit in Melbourne, when he was hunched over in pain and lost in three sets against the American Mackenzie McDonald.
Nadal: “Expect me not to expect anything”
Before his comeback, Nadal had curbed the euphoria himself.
“I expect from myself that I don’t expect anything,” he said slightly cryptically and spoke of a “difficult” start. But after months of hard work in rehab and training, he could say with certainty: “I feel much better today than I expected a month ago.”
The Australian hard courts should initially only serve as a benchmark on the way to higher goals. Nadal should be aiming for his top level again by early summer at the latest.
The temptations of the new season are great. At Nadal’s absolute favorite tournament, the French Open, he wants to grab the historic title number 15 in June – the tennis competitions of the Paris Olympic Games will also take place at the same location in the Stade Roland Garros.
At the end of 2024, Nadal could finally be over – even if he still leaves a loophole open if things go better than expected. “Why should I set a limit for myself?” he asked recently. On Tuesday he immediately showed that he was still a force to be reckoned with.
With Sports Information Service (SID)
2024-01-02 11:07:56
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