When is the last time Rafael Nadal won a tennis match?
While it might be premature to say that the ‘King of Clay’ has returned, the Spaniard looked in fine form during his first win in almost two years.
Though it may be too early to start talking about titles, the Spaniard’s repertoire on his favored surface was on full display as he took apart his opponent in his first outing since withdrawing from several tournaments due to injury.
Rafa Nadal is back
One could be forgiven for cracking a smile following Tuesday’s Barcelona Open Round 1 match between Spanish legend Rafael Nadal and world No. 62 Flavio Cobolli. The Spaniard and former world No. 1 registered his first win in nearly two years as he defeated Cobolli 6-2, 6-3. Now, it was of course an opening round match, however, given the trouble Nadal has had with injuries in recent times, it was a critical point in the return of one of tennis’ greatest players on the surface that he’s best known for.
Indeed, it was the first time that the 22-time Grand Slam winner has played a competitive match on clay, since playing in the final of the 2022 French Open, a match that he won. Yet, of greater significance was the fact that Tuesday’s clash was also the first competitive match he’s played since January when he was forced to withdraw from the Australian Open with a minor muscle tear in his hip. As for how his most recent outing went, Nadal was as sharp as ever against his Italian opponent. That said, it was clear that he was more calculated than daring when it came to physical exertion, something that has long been his trademark. On the other hand, it was impressive to see the way in which he controlled his much younger opponent - Cobolli is 21 years old - at the age of 37. To be clear, it’s been 681 days since Rafael Nadal won a game, so this is big news.
Regarding what the future holds, it would be best to take a look at the recent past first. The last time we saw Nadal in honest, was the start of the 2022 season when he won the first two majors. After that, injuries became a constant theme, to the extent that his campaign ended in misery. Then came 2023 which began with a second-round loss at the Australian Open after which, nothing. From there, a hip injury more or less resulted in his withdrawal - as mentioned before - from several tournaments. That brings us to the present, where we’ve just seen Nadal look like the player we’ve known. Having won 12 titles in Barcelona, there’s no better place for him to regain rhythm and confidence and even more so when playing on his favored surface. As we know, the end game is an appearance at Roland Garros - it’s next month - but if he can continue in this vein, it may be that we can expect more than that.