Friday’s thrilling quarterfinal match at the Brisbane International ended Rafael Nadal’s first singles match since his injury return.
Nadal lost to Australian Jordan Thompson.
This was the Spaniard’s first solo tournament in nearly a year. He took the opening set and had three match points in the second set, but Thompson rallied spectacularly to win 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 in a close battle.
After over three and a half hours of play, Thompson completed the match with the longest-ever 33-shot rally, much to the joy of the home fans who had stayed up late. This triumph meant that it was almost midnight in Brisbane.
Since Wimbledon in 2022, Nadal has not advanced past the quarterfinals.
On Sunday, he had already played Thompson in two doubles matches. That time, the 29-year-old emerged victorious as well, but Friday’s encounter was much more taxing on both athletes.
At 3-3 in the opening set, Thompson broke the tie with a break of serve, but Nadal quickly reversed the momentum, first in the next game and then when Thompson sent a backhand into the net to tie the match at 6-5.
As the match went on, Nadal appeared to be getting closer to winning and a place in the final four. The second set was equally as close as the first. At 5-4, he had a match point, and in the tiebreak, he created two more.
But Thompson took the next three points in spectacular fashion, the highlight of which was a fantastic, lunging volley to go ahead 7-6. The former world No. 1 was unable to cross the finish line, spraying a forehand wide when leading 6-4 in the tie-break.
Encouraged by the enthusiastic home crowd, Thompson regained composure and successfully broke the serve to take a 3-1 lead in the decisive set.
After taking a medical leave of absence shortly after, Nadal—who suffered with ailments throughout 2023 and spent the majority of the year recovering from hip surgery—seemed well when he returned to the court.
Thompson maintained the advantage, and when Nadal hit a long backhand, the world No. 55 completed his comeback.
He will now play Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday in the Brisbane International semifinals; the winner of that match will play Roman Safiullin or Holger Rune in the championship event.
