The legendary Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal This Sunday he made his return to the courts after almost a year in a doubles match with his compatriot Marc López, who lost to the local couple Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson 6-4, 6-4, in the first round of the ATP 250 Brisbane, Australia.
Regardless of the result, it was great news for Nadal to step onto the court again after a long inactivity due to an injury to the iliopsoas in his left leg. His last match had been the defeat with the American Mackenzie McDonald in three sets, on January 18 of this year, in the second round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
At 38 years old, the Spaniard begins the final stretch of his extraordinary career that projected him as the absolute king of clay with 14 Roland Garros crowns. Since his debut in 2001, Nadal has won 1,068 matches, lost 220 and celebrated 92 titles (22 Grand Slam).
Member of the “Big Three” along with the Swiss Roger Federer and the Serbian Noval Djokovic, Rafa assumed that this tour of Australia has “a high percentage” to be the last of his career on the circuit.
“The problem with saying it’s going to be my last season is that I can’t predict one hundred percent what’s going to happen in the future. That’s why I say probably. It’s obvious that there’s a high percentage that this is going to be my last.” playing here in Australia,” he accepted at a press conference.
After regaining the sensations of competing in doubles, Nadal will face his debut in the singles draw in Brisbane on Tuesday against the Austrian Dominic Thiem, former top ten, champion of the 2020 US Open and thirteen other finalist in Grand Slam tournaments in Australia (2020 ) and Roland Garros (2018 and 2019).
The Spaniard decided to make his comeback in an ATP 250 tournament that opens the tennis season and is part of the prologue to the Australia Open, the first Grand Slam of the year that he won twice (2009 and 2022).
2023-12-31 20:35:00
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