Numbers are not to be trusted in tennis. A first-round match in Brisbane, at a tournament in Queensland that is considered preparation for the Australian Open, can serve as an example. Every seat in the vast arena was occupied as dusk colored the sky above the stadium’s roof and No. 663 in the tennis world rankings stepped onto the court. A few days earlier, this number 663 had already caused a large crowd in the city center during a promotional appearance for the tournament. On Tuesday evening, number 663, challenged by number 98, brought the audience out of their seats with excitement with precise, powerful, almost flawless play, which is perhaps not surprising given the names behind the numbers: Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem.
Until that evening, Nadal had largely disappeared from the scene for almost a year. That explains his slide in the rankings; even if he now has the right to use a so-called protected ranking, which freezes his old position (9th place).
The French Open, which he had won fourteen times, Wimbledon and the US Open took place without the 22-time Grand Slam winner from Manacor. A few months ago it was uncertain whether he would ever pick up the racket again at a tournament because the list of medical bulletins that accompanies his career seemed too long. In May, shortly before a hip operation, he spoke out from his tennis center in Mallorca and announced the impending end of his career: He wanted to try everything so that he could maybe play another season, he explained at the time – to say goodbye .
Nadal’s hair has become thinner, the dynamic is still huge
“One of the worst years of his career” is behind him, Nadal said on Tuesday in Brisbane after the match against Thiem, which he won 7:5, 6:1 in less than an hour and a half. At the stadium microphone, he thanked him for the support he received from his family “in the lonely moments” of his recovery time, but also from the many strangers who sent him encouraging news. He missed everything: the health and the feeling of playing in big stadiums in front of so many people.
On the court he looked as if he had never been away since that match on January 18, 2023, when, already injured in his hip, he lost to Mackenzie McDonald from the USA in the second round of the Australian Open. The hair has become a little thinner. But at 37 years old, Nadal still masters this dynamic game that fascinates the masses and which, unlike his companion Roger Federer, who has since retired, he celebrates not with elegance, but with a passion that can be read in every rally. Dominic Thiem, his opponent, number 98, managed to match this striking skill, at least in the first set.
Even in Thiem’s case, this number 98 is just a cipher for the story behind the results. The 30-year-old Austrian, once third best on the tennis tour, won his last title in September 2020 when he beat Alexander Zverev in the final of the US Open. In between there was a phase in which he struggled with the consequences of a wrist injury, with fluctuations in form and problems with motivation.
Even the first rally is a demonstration of power
Unlike Nadal, who is playing in Brisbane with an invitation from the organizers, the Grand Slam winner from Wiener Neustadt, now coached by coach Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh, initially had to fight his way through the qualification in three sets. So he had already gained more match practice on the fast court; Nadal had previously only played doubles with his friend and coach Marc Lopez and lost straight away.
In the first singles match in a year on Tuesday, the first rally was a demonstration of power: a flat, hard, straight forehand past the opponent almost into the corner where the lines meet – a blow like an exclamation: I’m back. Nadal won the first point to zero. Thiem, also a master of the forehand, countered confidently. Nobody gave up a point until the score was 5:5; it was a high-class duel between two champions of this sport. After 50 minutes, Nadal won the first break point of the match, which was also the first set point. He only used the third one. In the second round, force and will overcame Thiem’s resistance.
Nadal said afterwards when he stood at the microphone in front of the audience that he had his doubts. He still lacked the experience to properly assess his performance, but: “It went quite well.” The meticulous, meticulous worker Nadal would hardly have taken the risk of stepping onto a court again without being adequately prepared for all eventualities. In any case, Nadal said on Tuesday, his decision had been made for a long time: “I want to end it my way.”