Rafael Nadal He now has a rival to start his journey in the individual box of Brisbane next January 2nd. The Spaniard, after an 11-month absence due to injury, in a favorable draw was able to avoid the top seeds of the tournament, such as Rune, Shelton or Dimitrov, and had to face a player from the previous one. And finally, that will be the enemy Dominic Thiem.
The Spaniard has a favorable balance of 9 to 6 against the 30-year-old tennis player, but this time, but for this match there is no valid data or prediction. While Rafa arrived in Brisbane with the sole purpose of gradually regaining his competitive tone and feel like a tennis player again to get to the best way at the Australian Open, the first major of the season, On the other side of the court, Rune is also not the player he was a few years ago. He has come a long way from being the tennis player who faced Rafa in two Roland Garros finals (2018 and 2019) and won the US Open in 2020.
Thiem, world number 98, has been trying to regain his level after suffering a serious wrist injury and comes into the clash against Nadal from the qualifying phase, after defeating guest James McCabe. Dominic will try to stop Rafa Nadal on his return to an individual draw after almost a year.
Manacorí has already made his debut in a doubles clash partnering Marc López this Sunday against locals Purcell and Thompson, with the sole aim of having the first competition. Rafa has been gathering good feelings in his training sessions in Brisbane for days and in these he even played a set against Thiem, with Rafa emerging as the winner 6-3.
The last meeting between Rafa and Dominic in an official match was at the 2020 ATP Finals, with a victory for the Wiener Neustadt tennis player 7-6 (7), 7-6 (4), winning the tie break in two sets. This time, Rafa came after almost a year, waiting, to gradually return to the high level that allowed him to fight and enjoy tennis in what may be his last year in the elite. Go back from number 672. From there, go up. Rafa Nadal’s most likely ‘last dance’ is about to begin.
Source: La Verdad
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