Nadal makes winning return against Thiem after almost a year out of the courts
The Spaniard defeated the Austrian player in Brisbane in his first singles official match after his hip injury.
Rafa Nadal is back. The former world No. 1 impressed in his return to the courts after almost a year of inactivity due to a hip injury, defeating the talented Dominic Thiem in straight sets at the Brisbane International tournament.
The 22-time major champion had to dig deep in the first set, but he ended up winning it 7-5. After that, Thiem seemed to have lost the mental battle too and the Manacor native recorded a 6-1 win to close the game in style.
Nadal lost his doubles match on Sunday, but that didn’t affect him going into his first game in 349 days when he was defeated by Mackenzie McDonald in the second round of the last Australian Open.
“Today is an emotional day. It has been one of the toughest years of my tennis career”, Nadal said after the match.
“I had nerves before the match and of course doubts after such a long time, but things went well and I am excited to be back”, he added.
It was an important win for Rafa, as he needed to come back with a victory to get his confidence back and because it was his 1,069th tour-level win, overtaking Ivan Lendl in the fourth place on the list of most career wins for a man in the Open Era.
Raducanu emulates Nadal and wins in her comeback match
If all the attention in the men’s category has been on Nadal’s return, all eyes were on Emma Raducanu’s comeback after a long layoff, and as happened with the Spaniard, the 21-year-old talent also emerged victorious in the opening game in Brisbane.
The 2021 US Open champion played her first game since April, after having surgery on both her wrists and one ankle.
Despite losing the second set to her opponent, the Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse, Raducanu fought back and won the third to win a hard-fought battle (6-3 4-6 7-5).
“Thank you to everyone coming out and staying late, I really appreciate the support. It was a match with ups and downs and it’s always difficult playing a friend”, she said after the game.
Raducanu will now face Elina Svitolina in the next round, who comfortably defeated Caroline Wozniacki.