Nadal celebrates victorious return to the courts in Brisbane

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal celebrated his triumphant return to the courts by winning the Brisbane tournament after beating Dominic Thiem in two sets.

Nadal defeated Thiem in two sets

Rafael Nadal, who missed most of last season due to a hip injury and subsequent surgery, has already announced that 2024 will be his farewell season. At the Brisbane tournament, he met Dominic Thiem of Austria in the first round.

And it was a winning singles debut this year. He defeated Thiem in two sets 7:5 and 6:4. Thiem himself experienced similar vicissitudes as the Spanish tennis player, only he never returned to his former form after a long injury.

The 37-year-old former world No. 1 dropped down to the seventh hundred of the ATP rankings after a long-term injury. However, the 22 Grand Slam champion didn’t have to wait for a wild card thanks to the protected ranking, he didn’t have much trouble with Thiem, who is again a former world No. 3.

After an even first set, he took the reins of the match into his own hands. The Spanish “Musketeer” holds one very interesting record, which is not held by Serbian Novak Djokovic.

He managed to spend 906 weeks in a row between the years (2005-2023) in the top 10 of the ATP rankings. If it wasn’t for an injury that knocked him out of ATP tournaments for a year, the streak would surely have continued.

Nadal was overcome with emotion

The Spanish tennis player has already had an unsuccessful doubles match with compatriot Lopez in Brisbane. However, everyone was waiting to see how he would perform in the opening singles match of the season. And after winning the duel, he was overcome with emotion.

He told the fans that he is very grateful for the support and after one of the most challenging years of his career, every match is very emotional and important for him as if it was the last one. He will face home tennis player Jason Kubler in the next round.

Source: ATP