Rafael Nadal will face his familiar foe Dominic Thiem in the first round of Brisbane International, the season-opening ATP 250 tournament which will also mark the Spaniard’s return to action for the first time since his Australian Open appearance in 2023. Nadal, who received a wildcard for the tournament, will go up against Thiem, who won the qualifying round to earn a berth in the men’s singles draw in Brisbane.
Rafael Nadal partnered with Marc Lopez for his first competitive match on return, a doubles match against the local pair Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell.
Nadal and Thiem have played 15 times against each other on the ATP tour, with the Spaniard winning 9 of them. Thiem, however, has won their last two meetings – ATP Finals and Australian Open quarter-final in 2020.
Holger Rune is the top seed at Brisbane International and Nadal has been drawn in the bottom half, which is led by 2nd seed Grigor Dimitrov. If Nadal wins against Theim, he is likely to face 8th seed Aslan Karatsev.
Theim, who has had his fair share of injuries and dip in form, defeated local player James McCabe in a three-setter in the first qualifying round before beating Giulio Zeppieri in another three-setter in the second qualifying round.
Nadal trained in Kuwait before heading to Brisbane for the season-opening tournament. The Spaniard, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, will be looking to ease into competitive action and give himself a few matches before the Australian Open, starting January 14.
Nadal has time and again stressed that he is not expecting too much from himself in the upcoming season, which is likely to be his last. The 37-year-old, however, is happy with his practice sessions.
“In a realistic world, I’m happy the way that I am practising. Of course, I don’t have the expectations that I used to have in the past, especially for the beginning,” Nadal said on the eve of his doubles first-round match in Brisbane.
“It’s (been) one year. It’s surgery. It’s not a long period of time practising at a decent level. For me, is a little bit unpredictable how things (are) going to be. Competing is different than practising. But in terms of practising with the guys here, I am quite happy because I am able to feel competitive against the players that I played,” he added.
Nadal had a hit with the likes of Holger Rune and Andy Murray after arriving in Brisbane.
