Nadal sends ominous Australian Open message in perfect comeback

Rafael Nadal has made a perfect start to his Australian Open tune-up, before making a surprising comment about his year.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 02: Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates after winning a point in his match against Dominic Thiem of Austria during day two of the 2024 Brisbane International at Queensland Tennis Centre on January 02, 2024 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal has made a perfect start to his much-needed Australian Open tune-up, defeating former US Open champion Dominic Thiem in straight sets at the Brisbane International.

Playing his first competitive singles match in almost 12 months, since his injury-impacted second round loss at Melbourne Park last January, Nadal showed few signs of the long lay-off.

While Thiem, who had to go through qualifiers after an injury, played well in the opening set he was broken multiple times in the second, allowing Nadal to prevail 7-5 6-1.

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Most ominously for the rest of the tour, Nadal looked in better form on Tuesday night than he did a year ago, when he was ranked No.1 in the world.

“Probably one of the toughest years of my tennis career, without a doubt,” Nadal said post-match.

“To come back and play at a very positive level is something that will make us feel proud, to myself, all the team, all the family who’ve helped every single day over the past year.”

Nadal will enter the season-opening grand slam unseeded, meaning he could face a rival like Novak Djokovic in the opening round of the tournament, and he is hopeful of a deep run at the Brisbane 250-level event to give him the best opportunity to be prepared.

He will face the winner between former Australian Open semi-finalist Aslan Karatsev and Aussie Jason Kubler in the second round. Kubler won the opening set 6-4.

Should Nadal advance into the third round he will face either Aussie Jordan Thompson, American Alex Michelsen or most likely French world No.20 Ugo Humbert.

Spain's Rafael Nadal played a doubles match on New Year’s Eve and returned to singles action tonight. (Photo by Patrick HAMILTON / AFP)

Originally published as Nadal sends ominous Australian Open message in perfect comeback