349 days ago, Rafa Nadal lost to American Mackenzie McDonald at the Australian Open. Since then he has not taken the court in an individual match. Another injury came between him and tennis again. The Mallorcan had to travel a tortuous path to return to the starting square. Today is another opportunity to shine in the sport in which he is a legend. And the first dish will be the Austrian Dominic Thiem, an old acquaintance whom he has already faced fifteen times.
Two days after feeling the touch of the court again in the dress rehearsal that meant the presence in the doubles tournament with his now coach Marc López, Nadal returns to the real scene, to the real competition, to the frame single from Brisbane, the site selected for the new starting point.
Rafael Nadal begins a new season that aims to be his last, although with him that can never be guaranteed. Uncertainties and expectations overlap. But at the end of the road comes Paris, with both Roland Garros and the Olympics as the most attractive challenges of the season.
So many times number one in the world, he accumulates 209 weeks, Nadal returns submerged in the ranking place 672, so he goes to Brisbane as a guest. The Mallorcan will shine with his presence in a smaller tournament on the calendar, chosen by him to feel like a player again, for this new life he concedes after an injury to the psoas iliac of his left leg, after a few attempts to return, an operation and many hours of recovery.
The match against Dominic Thiem (no earlier than 9.30 a.m.) is a head-to-head full of incentives, with the appearance of a final, and which confronts two players who touched glory in the not too distant past and who aim to rehabilitate to return to higher heights. Both are in Brisbane after sharing the track in training sessions in recent days. The precedents, up to fifteen, indicate that Nadal won nine, and the Austrian, six. Despite the fact that the Mallorcan always won the most important ones, such as two Roland Garros finals and another final at the Masters 1000 in Madrid. Thiem has won the two most recent, both in 2020, in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and the ATP Finals. Whoever wins will face the winner of the clash between Russia’s Aslan Karatsev and the Australian guest in the second round.
Nadal returns to the arena against a prestigious rival, with a brilliant record and equal need. A new race against time begins in 2024. Like so many other times, an injury temporarily cornered him, though none as deep as this one. For this reason, it may be the last dance of the best Spanish athlete in history.
