After defeating Dominic Thiem 7-5, 6-1, Rafael Nadal was showered with applause. The 22-time grand slam champion won his first nine points on the serve before a net cord sent a routine backhand long. He will now take on Jason Kubler of Australia. After taking nearly a year off from tennis due to a near-fatal hip injury, Rafael Nadal returned to the game with a strong 7-5, 6-1 victory over fellow Grand Slam winner Dominic Thiem.
In a comeback that had been beset with doubt by Rafael Nadal’s admission, it was an unparalleled performance at the Brisbane International from a sporting icon. Nadal claimed the victory was one of the most poignant in a career that has brought him 22 slams and over 90 singles victories.
“After one of the hardest years of my tennis career, today is a significant and emotional day for me,” he remarked.
It was clear that tennis fans loved Rafael Nadal since he earned a standing ovation after the match. “The support [from fans] is super important to me, especially in the low moments. I received thousands of messages during the year.”
With a wave to the Pat Rafter Arena crowd, the 37-year-old Spanish legend was greeted with thunderous applause. Nadal wasted little time in announcing his intentions when, on the first point of the play, he hammered a trademark forehand that painted the baseline for a winner, leaving Thiem with nothing to do but watch and nod.
It was Nadal who chased down a Thiem drop shot to hit an angled forehand winner that brought the house down in the third game as the Spaniard held for 2-1. That winner set the tone as the two grand slam winners traded easy service holds early on.
Before a net cord sent a normal backhand long, the 22-time slam winner won his first nine points on serve. Throughout the opening set, Thiem’s long, languid backhand matched Nadal’s forehand in cross-court rallies.
With Thiem serving to stay in the set and saving three set points with a combination of big serves and baseline power, he sent a forehand long to give the Spanish wildcard the opening set 7-5. The Brisbane crowd went wild as Nadal strode confidently to his chair, continuing the trend of serving dominance that saw neither player face a break point until the 12th game of the match.
With his confidence restored, Nadal easily held serve once more before Thiem faced another break point due to a combination of a double fault and careless forehands. Nadal took it with a blistering backhand pass and then held serve to love for a 7-5, 3-0 lead. From there, Thiem couldn’t challenge Nadal, who won almost 90% of the points on his serve throughout the match and ended it with a backhand winner 7-5, 6-1 to a standing ovation.
“I was very comfortable and then I was able to have that break at 6-5 and that makes the difference,” he said, expressing his particular satisfaction with his serving performance. “I know Dominic has been going through some hard times with injury as well and I wish him well for the season,” he continued, praising Thiem.
The Australian Jason Kubler, who used his wildcard entrance to enter the second round, will face Rafael Nadal next. On Tuesday night, Kubler was tied up at 6-4 6-7 (4-7) in his opening set when Russian Aslan Karatsev unexpectedly retired with an injury after winning the second set.
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