Rafael Nadal played an official match for the first time since the Australian Open in January. At the ATP tournament in Brisbane on Sunday (December 31, 2023) he lost in doubles with Marc Lopez, the two Spaniards lost to the host duo Max Purcell/Jordan Thompson 4:6, 4:6. On Tuesday (January 2nd, 2024) Nadal will also celebrate his comeback in singles, he will meet the Austrian Dominic Thiem.
Nadal underwent hip flexor surgery after the Australian Open. He is currently only 672nd in the world rankings, but thanks to his “Protected Ranking” status he does not have to compete in the qualification. Nadal and Thiem, who has not regained his old strength after wrist surgery in 2021, met each other 15 times in their careers, the Spaniard leads with 9:6 victories, but lost three of the most recent four duels.
In Brisbane, two German professionals are also in action in round one: Yannick Hanfmann from Karlsruhe (against Sebastian Korda/USA) and Daniel Altmaier from Kempen (against Tu Li/Taiwan).
2023-12-31 10:00:39
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