Rafael Nadal confirmed no indicators of rust from his yr off the tour, successful his return match over former No. 3-ranked Dominic Thiem 7-5, 6-1 on the Brisbane Worldwide on Tuesday.
The 22-time main winner hadn’t performed a singles match on the elite degree since a second-round exit on the Australian Open final January.
He did not present it. The 37-year-old Nadal made simply six unforced errors and dropped solely three factors on his serve within the first set. He received eight of the final 9 video games to clinch victory in 89 minutes.
Now ranked No. 672 and enjoying on a wild card in Brisbane after a protracted rehabilitation from a hip harm, Nadal mentioned the final 12 months had been among the many hardest of his skilled profession.
“In the present day is actually an emotional and vital day for me,” he mentioned in a post-match TV interview. “It was a really optimistic degree (for) the primary day.”
Within the opening match of the day on the lined Pat Rafter Area, No. 51-ranked Yannick Hanfmann of Germany beat fifth-seeded Sebastian Korda 7-5, 6-4 in a first-round contest.
Within the ladies’s draw, 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin was upset by No. 113-ranked Arina Rodionova 7-5, 7-6 (7) within the second spherical.
Kenin was consistently underneath stress on her serve regardless of having probabilities in each units towards Rodionova, a 34-year-old Australian who has by no means been ranked within the high 100.
Kenin was seeded 14th in Brisbane, a key tune-up event for the Australian Open beginning Jan. 14 in Melbourne.
