Rafael Nadal began his much-needed Australian Open warm-up in flawless fashion, defeating former US Open champion Dominic Thiem in straight sets at the Brisbane International.
In his initial competitive singles match in nearly 12 months, since his injury-affected second-round loss at Melbourne Park last January, Nadal displayed few signs of the extended lay-off.
While Thiem, who had to navigate qualifiers due to an injury, performed well in the opening set, he was broken multiple times in the second, enabling Nadal to triumph 7-5, 6-1.
Most notably for the rest of the tour, Nadal appeared to be in better form on Tuesday night than he was a year ago when he held the No.1 world ranking.
“Probably one of the toughest years of my tennis career, without a doubt,” Nadal said post-match.
“To come back and play at a very positive level is something that will make us feel proud, to myself, all the team, all the family who’ve helped every single day over the past year.”
Nadal will begin the season-opening grand slam unseeded, implying he might encounter a rival like Novak Djokovic in the tournament's opening round. He is optimistic about a strong showing at the Brisbane 250-level event to enhance his preparedness.
He is set to face the winner between former Australian Open semi-finalist Aslan Karatsev and Aussie Jason Kubler in the second round. Kubler claimed the opening set 6-4 by the time this story was filed.
Should Nadal progress to the third round, he will contend with either Aussie Jordan Thompson, American Alex Michelsen, or most likely French world No.20 Ugo Humbert.
