There was no fairytale return for Rafael Nadal at the Brisbane International after he was beaten in the first round of the doubles tournament.
Partnering compatriot Marc Lopez, the Spanish duo lost 6-4, 6-3, to home favorites Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson. Lopez is a former world No.3 doubles player who is now a member of Nadal’s coaching team. Together they won a gold medal at the 2016 Beijing Olympics.
However, it was the Australian team who were largely in control of proceedings during a match where neither player faced a break point. Nadal did show promising signs with his shotmaking but it was not enough to change the outcome. Purcell and Thompson sealed victory on their first match point after a Lopez forehand drifted beyond the baseline.
“It’s great to see Rafa back. I have been on the receiving end a couple of times in the singles so it is nice to get my own back on the doubles court,” Thompson said afterward.
The return ends Nadal’s 347-day absence from the sport due to injury. Before today, the last time he played a competitive match was at the Australian Open in January where he was defeated in the second round by Mackenzie McDonald. Since then he has been sidelined by a troublesome hip injury which he had to undergo surgery on during the summer.
Nadal will return to action later in the week to play in the singles tournament where he has been drawn against qualifier and former US Open champion Dominic Thiem in his opening match. It will be the 16th Tour-level match between the two with the Spaniard currently leading their head-to-head 9-6.
“It’s impossible to think about winning tournaments today,” he said during a Q&A session on Friday.
“What’s really possible is to enjoy the comeback. I don’t expect much; one year without being on the court.”
Elsewhere in the doubles event, there were victories for Grigor Dimitrov and Seb Korda, as well as Ben Shelton and his partner Ugo Humbert. However, Andy Murray and Holger Rune were beaten 4-6, 6-3, 10-5, by Aslan Karatsev and Roman Safiullin.
