Tennis fans were able to enjoy one of the most anticipated returns before the end of 2021. This Friday, after four months away from the courts due to a persistent injury, the Spanish Rafael Nadal (6th in the ATP ranking) played again in an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi. Beyond that his return was with a defeat against the Scotsman Andy murray (134 °), the former world number one agreed to be able to be active again.
Little could the born in Mallorca do in a duel between two historic players on the circuit and suffered a fall in two sets (6-3 and 7-5) in the match valid for one of the semifinals of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship. This Saturday he will take to the track again to face the young Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the match for third place.
It was a game in which Nadal He noticed it lacking in rhythm of competition, especially in the first set. Although he had a chance to break Murray’s serve, he couldn’t finish it and then lost his. The Spanish drive grew in the second heat and also found greater mobility, however the Scotsman imposed his regularity to make a difference in the final section and seal his victory.
:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/JJVJWUJIPT6X6DRCDXGV3RN37A.jpg 992w)
Nadal, 35, and Murray, 34, had not been face to face for more than five years. The last time they had crossed paths had been at the Masters 1000 in Madrid in 2016, with a 7-5, 6-4 victory for the British. The history of 24 games between the two shows a clear advantage in favor of the Spanish, who reaped 17 victories against seven of his rival.
Happy to be back. It had been a long time since I played with Murray and I’m happy to see him play at a great level. For me at least it is a return although it is not the best game“Nadal said once the match was over. Your next stop, once you finish your passage through Abu Dhabi, will be the ATP de Melbourne, scale prior to Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year.
The last game of the winner of 20 Grand Slam titles had been the loss to the South African Lloyd Harris in the third round of the ATP of Washington, last August. “I’ve been suffering a lot more than I should with my foot for a year and I need to take some time. After having discussed it with the team and family, this decision has been made and I believe that it is the way forward to try to recover and recover well ”, the Manacor native had explained in the video that he published on his social networks and with which he put end of his 2021 season. Product of that ailment, in September he went under the knife and he went through several months of rehabilitation until he returned to the courts.
KEEP READING:
