SUMMARY
- Rafael Nadal is set to play his first match at the Brisbane International.
- Nadal's draw for the tournament is finally out.
Spanish legend Rafael Nadal is merely a few hours away from returning to the tennis courts. Nadal will be playing at the Brisbane International after a long injury layoff, and the Spaniard’s draw for his first tournament after almost a year has been released.
Several accomplished players will be competing in Brisbane to prepare for the Australian Open. Dominic Thiem, Aslan Karatsev, and Diego Schwartzman are a few of the top players at the event.
Nadal will be back in action as an unseeded player this time. He has managed to avoid playing against one of the top seeds at the tournament in the very first round. Instead, he will lock horns with a qualifier, and if he moves to the next round, he will possibly play against Karatsev or Jason Kubler.
ATP Brisbane draw.
Very nice comeback draw for Rafael Nadal. pic.twitter.com/65wxjpU37H
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) December 30, 2023
Rafa recently announced that he would also play in the doubles category with Marc Lopez. The duo has previously partnered up and even won the Olympic gold in 2016. They will take on Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson in the first round. The winners of the match will face off against Nikola Mektic and Hugo Nys.
Rafa Nadal will play doubles with Marc Lopez in Brisbane.
They won an Olympic Gold Medal back in 2016.
Smart move so he can get more match play.
Let’s get this comeback started. 🇪🇸❤️ pic.twitter.com/lNW2YWSWlj
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) December 28, 2023
So far, Nadal has shown promising signs at practice, and the anticipation around his return is very high. He will play his first singles match on December 31st.
The possible road to the final for Rafael Nadal at Brisbane International
Through sheer luck, Rafa has found himself in a relatively easy draw. However, his path to the finals may not be as easy as it seems on paper.
After facing a qualifier in the first round, Nadal is en route to taking on the winner of the Jason Kubler-Aslan Karatsev match. Should Nadal make it past the third round, Ugo Humbert or Jordan Thompson might be his potential opponents.
Este es el hipotético camino de Rafa Nadal en el torneo de Brisbane:
1R-Qualy
2R-Kubler/Karatsev
QF-Humbert/Thompson/Vukic
SF-Dimitrov/Etcheverry/Murray
F-Rune/Shelton/KordaHa evitado en su lado del cuadro a los más peligrosos. Creo que es positivo.
📸 Brisbane International pic.twitter.com/bZ1xlbQOHj
— José Morón (@jmgmoron) December 29, 2023
The path to the finals will get a little more difficult after this. Nadal will possibly face off against Andy Murray, Grigor Dimitrov, or Tomás Etcheverry. If Rafa makes it to the final, a potential clash with either Holger Rune or Ben Shelton awaits.
Rafael Nadal will be playing in the Brisbane International for just the second time in his career. Irrespective of the outcomes of his matches, the Spaniard will surely give his best.