Rafael Nadal’s Return To Winning Ways Turns Heads As Spanish Compatriot Left In Disbelief

Game, Set and Match, the King is back like he never left. The Same intensity, the same passion and dominance on the court with a hunger to win. Everything was picture-perfect for almost 5,500 spectators at the Pat Rafter Arena on Tuesday. They got the chance to witness Rafael Nadal getting back to his winning ways after almost a gap of one year. What are the reactions of the tennis world to Nadal’s comeback?

The 24-year-old Spanish tennis player, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina was seen in awe of Rafael Nadal’s level on return. And, here’s what the former number 21, tweeted after the match. 

Reactions coming in on the amazing display of elegance by Rafael Nadal on his return

Rafael Nadal has been out of action for a while after getting injured at the AO last year. Meanwhile, he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left hip flexor. Going under the knife and making a comeback at the competitive stages at the age of 37 is never easy. It had been almost close to 350 days since he last played his singles match. But who’ll say that? 

The Spaniard defeated the former number 3, Dominic Thiem easily in their first singles match at the Brisbane International. It Nadal took almost 1 hour and 30 mins to seal the deal by a 7-5,6-1 margin to make his way through to the Round of 16. Rafa didn’t look rusty at all throughout the match. In fact, he had lost only 6 points on the serve throughout the match with a minimum number of unforced errors. Seeing this amazing display of elegance against the former US Open champion his compatriot expressed expressed nothing but his admiration for one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Alejandro Davidovich wrote, ‘Nadal hasn’t played in a year? What a level‘ in X(formerly Twitter).

Both Thiem and Nadal had faced each other in some of the epic clashes in the past. The most notable of them was in the consecutive finals of the French Open in 2018 and 2019. Rafael Nadal came victorious on both those occasions and with this win, he now leads the H2H with Thiem by a 10-6 margin. Let’s have a look at Rafa’s post-match reactions.

READ MORE: ‘The Heart and Soul of Tennis..’- Rafael Nadal’s Monumental Comeback in Brisbane Erupts Serious Emotions in Fans

Nadal gives a reaction after his emphatic victory over a familiar rival

Although he emerged victorious in the singles match Nadal failed to make a winning start to his comeback journey in Australia. A couple of days back he teamed up with Marc Lopez in their doubles clash against an Australian duo. But unfortunately, the Spaniards lost that match. But it didn’t take long for the King to get back to his winning ways at Pat Rafter Arena.

After his win over Thiem, Nadal said this was an ’emotional and important day’ for him. Especially after going through what he has over the past few months, he feels perhaps this could be one of the toughest in his career so far. But he said he’s happy to make a comeback after such a long gap and he felt amazing playing in front of such an amazing crowd. The 22 Grand Slam title holder will now take on the Australian, Jason Kubler on January 4. He had earlier featured in this event in 2017, where he made it through to the QFs. How far can he go this time?

Watch This Story: Venus And Serena Williams Tease A Tennis Feast For Fans In A Promising Yet Unknown Collaboration