Rafael Nadal suffers first loss after his return on tour

Rafael Nadal lost his first official game after his long-awaited return on tour. The Spaniard suffered a 5:7, 7:6(6), 6:3 loss to Jordan Thompson after whopping 3 hours and 30 minutes of play.

Thompson initially gained an advantage in the first set but suffered a quick break, then had to save three match points in the tiebreak of the second set. Ultimately, he managed to close the match after initially leading 4-1 in the tiebreak, securing the win with a break. Just before the start of the sixth game, Nadal received assistance from the on-court physiotherapist but couldn’t turn the tide.

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With this successful raid in front of his home crowd in Brisbane, Thompson will climb at least to the 47th position in the world rankings. For Nadal, the week was not entirely negative as he gained valuable playing practice and jumped a significant 221 places to 451st.

Thompson will face Grigor Dimitrov at the semi-finals as he has one win against he Bulgarian in 2019 in Miami, while in 2022, Grigor won their encounter in Indian Wells.