Rafael Nadalque started his return to the court after almost a year away due to injury with a remarkable victory by beating Austrian Dominic Thiem in the first round of the tournament in Brisbane.
The winner of 22 Grand Slams admitted he had “very positive” feelings.
It was just a good start. It is true that after so long, after a year, I played very well and especially despite everything that happened and the circumstances in which I arrived here. I had a good day. I played very solidly, with almost no mistakes. I haven’t made any bad decisions.
Nadal does not set short-term goals. Just compete.
If I’m competitive again, great. It will also be a surprise. That’s my only goal: to be competitive in a few months. You have to go one day at a time. This was just a game.
The Spanish tennis player emphasized that the match against Thiem was “very positive, but we will see next time”.
If I manage to train and play at the level I need, I’m more likely to be competitive again sooner, but if I have problems again, everything becomes more complicated and difficult.
“The most important and important thing for me is to be healthy,” emphasized the Spaniard, who finished in 1,069th place on the circuit. Victory over Thiem means he overtook Ivan Lendl into fourth place on the men’s all-time list.
Of course I haven’t forgotten how to play tennis, but the difficult thing is putting that into practice during the match. You have to get moving again, and that takes time.
Finally, the Spanish tennis player concluded.
After a long time without playing, anything can happen. You enter the track and wait for everything. Incredible things or catastrophes. A bad or good day. I came without many expectations. It is normal to be more nervous than normal in a situation like this. You doubt your physical condition. I had doubts about how it could all turn out, that things could go wrong and that worried me. I have to stay on track and not think about it, just let everything come to me spontaneously. I look forward to playing again another day.
(With information from EFE)
Source: La Neta Neta
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
