Rafael Nadal This Friday he will face his third stop at Brisbane ATP 250, his first tournament after a long absence that kept him off the slopes for nearly a year. The Australian player Jordan Thompson (43rd in the ranking) challenges this Friday (not before 11:00) to a Balearic player seeking a return to the ATP semifinals.
You have to go back to Wimbledon 2022 to see him Nadal’s last appearance in the quarterfinals of an ATP tournament. He then defeated Taylor Fritz in a grueling five-set match, but ended up with an abdominal injury that forced him to retire before playing in the semifinals against Nick Kyrgios. Therefore, Nadal has not faced a penultimate round of a court tournament since his Roland Garros 2022 title.
The end of that streak depends on what happens this Friday against a Jordan Thompson who had a free round, as his opponent in the round of 16, Ugo Humbert, withdrew due to illness before playing that match. Therefore, the Australian will be a rival of a nadal who knew Thompson was good at this in the past: He won the two previous duels between the two, one in hard indoor and another in Roland Garros.
Thompson is not a great server, although he is a complete player who likes to change direction, so It will be key for Nadal to continue to show dominance from the back of the court which can be seen in his first two games in Brisbane. Loose on his forehand and backhand, this will be his main weapon to take the initiative from others against a player who in principle will provide options for rallies.
Of those sources, Nadal will try to add a serve where he is infallible in the first two games. Now he will play against the highest ranked opponent so far for him in the tournament after winning a competitive first set against Dominic Thiem and comfortably winning the second and after not giving any options to a somewhat depleted Jason Kubler.
He will now look to add another victory against Thompson to keep his confidence growing and, more importantly, keep adding momentum ahead of the Australian Open. The winner of this match will face their previous opponent in the semifinals. Grigor Dimitrov and Rinky Hijikataalthough the only way for Nadal in his attempt to reach that stay is to achieve victory against the ocean player.
Source: La Verdad
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