BARCELONA – Rafael Nadal suffered his first defeat since his competitive return after injury, as he fell 7-5, 6-1 to Alex de Minaur in the Barcelona Open second round.
The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back on court this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well but eventually crumbled against the hard-working Australian fourth seed on April 17.
In fact, the match, which lasted one hour and 52 minutes, came down to who was in a better physical shape, de Minaur said.
“About the only thing I might have on Rafa on clay is physicality at this stage of his career. I decided to try and make the rallies quite physical and long, use my speed to my advantage. It’s never easy against him,” the world No. 11 said.
Fans were eager to see Nadal return to action but for the man himself, he insisted that he had limited expectations as he made his comeback from injury in the clay-court event. That was soon proven correct as the 37-year-old Spaniard exited in the last 32.
A day earlier, he had eased past Italy’s Flavio Cobolli 6-2, 6-3 in 85 minutes, despite not having competed since January.
He has seen his ranking slip to 644th after missing all of the 2023 season following the Australian Open. His comeback at the start of 2024 hit a stumbling block when he felt a hip injury flare up in Brisbane.
For Nadal, a 12-time winner in Barcelona, his victory over the 62nd-ranked Cobolli was his first appearance on clay since he won the French Open almost two years ago, and he was keen not to get ahead of himself.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, last week’s Monte Carlo Masters champion, had said earlier he expected Nadal to reach the final.
“To say I am favourite is stupidity, Tsitsipas knows that it’s not the case,” Nadal, who turns 38 in June, said before he took on de Minaur.
“I understand what he says (is a form of) respect for what I have done in this tournament. But everybody knows I am not favourite to win a tournament.
“I’m not able to serve 100 per cent free of problems. I didn’t have pain, but I didn’t serve much for the past two months. I’m trying to push when I really need to, if I can.”
If anything, the match against the 21-year-old Italian was just a test of how his body will hold up and the Spanish veteran said that he made an effort to play within himself and less against his opponent.
“It’s difficult to manage all this and do logical things when you’re competing, but I was able to because I was more or less in control,” he added.
“I didn’t have to make an amazing effort in terms of physical demands. It was a good start – when you return you can’t get rid of the doubts in one day, above all, on a physical level.
“Let’s see if I’m able to keep managing it the proper way.”
Also on April 16, Brandon Nakashima beat second seed Andrey Rublev 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) in the first round. The American, ranked 87th, ousted the world No. 8, who made five double faults and only forced one break point.
Rublev smashed his racket repeatedly on the ground before storming off after his loss.
Progressing to the last 16 is third seed Casper Ruud after the 25-year-old Norwegian overcame Frenchman Alexandre Muller 6-3, 6-4 in 87 minutes on April 17. AFP
