Rafael Nadal's comeback in Brisbane ends with a bittersweet aftertaste. Two triumphs, an exciting save, a defeat – anecdotal, because what concerns him now is not the result – and the worry. A kiss in the stands that smells like goodbye. After a year without competition, the champion of 22 majors has first moments of judgment that confirm to the dreamers a double reality: his tennis and his willingness to fight are still there, amazingly intact, but at the same time his body remembers During the last part of the fight on Friday against Jordan Thompson – 5:7, 7:6 (6) and 6:3 in favor of the Australian, after 3:25 hours – it became clear that the road back will be long and thorny, probably rough, like the protagonist lately has emphasized. Everything is uncertain.
He could have ended this episode – the third of the week after wins against Dominic Thiem and Jason Kubler – very differently if he had converted one of the three match points he had in the second set; However, Thompson escaped, and the physical demands of the pulse meant that midway through the third round, already trailing 1-4, Nadal had to go to the doctor to be treated for discomfort in his left groin, the area that was causing him stopped exactly a while ago. year and from which he was intervened in June. Just over a week before the start of the Australian Open, from the 14th to the 28th of this month, an unpleasant reminder. Logical, however. The tennis player went to the locker room, came back and apparently ended the duel well, but he urged caution.
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“I have to see how I wake up in the morning,” he said at the beginning. “Honestly, now I'm not 100% sure about anything,” he remarked in the conference room, while specifying that the pain was “not relevant at all” and that he hoped to be able to exercise in the future days to take part in the event in Melbourne to be able to. “I know that after a year it is difficult for the body to play tournaments at the highest level. When things get harder, you don't know how he will react. I have to accept everything as it comes. If something happens, if I have a problem there [en el psoas ilíaco] or in another part of the body, I have to accept it. It's a start. “It's been a long time since I last took part in a tournament,” he said.
After the tests against Thiem and Kübler, Nadal faced headwinds this time. In the Pat Rafter in Brisbane, another sauna, it wasn't blowing, but Thompson, a tennis player who doesn't particularly shine in the showcase but almost always contributes interesting arguments, was blowing hard. He is sharp, he knows how to play, he has an attractive range of resources – he is a regular in doubles – and he noticed the Spaniard's insecurity in the first set. For the first time this week, the Mallorcan (38 years old on June 3rd) grimaced, shook his head and argued loudly with himself. Your will demands something from you, and reality tells you otherwise. Step by step. The process. The logical breaks that resulted from inactivity made themselves felt in his game, and as soon as the rate of his first serves dropped a little, the curveballs began.
Necessary tolls
The situation is as dangerous as it is advantageous. In this medium-term planned return – as the protagonist emphasizes with the reference to earthly spring – moments of tension and difficulty like this Friday will be as inevitable as they are necessary. Nadal has to go through all the stops on the way back and after two great days, surprising for the high performance against Thiem and Kübler, the third game forced him to navigate through choppy waters, enduring discomfort most of the time. He did not find a single truce, the inaccuracies came to the surface. And Thompson wouldn't budge.
Nevertheless, Nadal experimented and tested and accepted the strain. However, the doubt disappeared and Thompson, dynamic and immune to risks, a fearless type who usually does not hesitate, went determinedly for victory. The Australian (29 years old and 43rd in the world, scheduled to face Grigor Dimitrov this Saturday) played with a knife between his teeth, hungry and defiant from start to finish, and although he lost the first set and a mental decline was felt , It turned out to be short-lived. . He persisted in the mission. He didn't even bend when Nadal forced him into the ropes. He got three match points – one at 5:4 and two more in the tiebreak – and finally took him into the physical phase, where he had everything to win.
The Spaniard put his hand on his groin and went to his physiotherapist. He was treated by the organization's doctor and from then on he calmed down and the completion of this first test in Brisbane offers one certainty: tennis-wise, Nadal is back. It remains to be seen how far his body will take him.
“I hope it’s just an overload”
AC
The day before the match with Thompson, Nadal emphasized that he did not have to invest too much time in deciding the duels with Thiem (1h 29m) and Kubler (1h 23m). However, this time he had to perform for almost three and a half hours.
“I had the opportunity to play three games and today the opponent played well. All credit to him, he fought very hard. For my part, I'm happy with how the week went. It's a day to be happy and congratulate your rival. Then we'll see how I feel in the next few days. “I have to stay calm,” he said, sticking to the positive aspect of this first tournament, which he came to after just over a month of high-intensity training.
“If that's not important, it's a very positive week because I played well; If I don’t feel well, we will do tests and check,” he said; “The only problem is that you are a little more afraid because the place is the same. I hope it's just overload. It’s a very similar place to last year but with different things,” he said; “I feel more muscular, and last year it was the tendon. My muscle feels tired. I'm sure it's not the same because then I felt something drastic and immediate. Today I didn't feel anything.
“As I said, I didn’t come here to win tournaments. I just try to come back and do it in a positive way and it was positive,” Nadal concluded.
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