BRISBANE, Jan 4: Rafael Nadal’s comeback from a year-long injury layoff reached the Brisbane International quarterfinals after dominating Jason Kubler 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday.
The 22-time major winner is playing on a wild card after his ranking slipped into the 600s as he recovered from hip surgery, and he’s desperate for match time ahead of the Australian Open this month.
Nadal’s first competitive match since January last year was a win on Tuesday against 2020 U.S. Open champion and former No. 3-ranked Dominic Thiem.
“It means a lot to me,” Nadal said, “and two victories after a long time being outside of the professional tour is something that, yeah, makes me feel good and happy.”
He was more convincing against Kubler, a hometown favorite who is ranked 63rd after a career interrupted by multiple operations on his knees.
Nadal had 20 winners, including some ripping forehands, and eight unforced errors. He hit volleys and half-volleys and overheads. He scrambled to chase drop shots and covered the baseline without any visible signs of the injury.
The 37-year-old Spaniard lost only one point in his first three service games — a double-fault on the second point of the match. But he was also able to dig himself out of a hole by winning five straight points when he faced triple breakpoint while serving for the first set.
“I came on court trying to be aggressive with my shots from the the baseline and it worked very well,” Nadal said in an on-court TV interview. “It’s been a very positive match for me, (and I ) have the chance to play again tomorrow.”
The only blip for Nadal was a warning for a time violation for taking too long in a locker-room break between sets. He shrugged it off, saying it was so humid he needed to change his clothing. He promised he’d work on getting faster this year.
He’ll play another Australian, Jordan Thompson, in the quarterfinals on Friday. Thompson got a walkover when fourth-seeded Ugo Humbert withdrew from their second-round match because of illness.
Victoria Azarenka is in familiar territory after reaching the quarterfinals in Brisbane, where she won her first WTA title in 2009 when the tournament was staged for the first time.
Azarenka beat Clara Burel of France 7-5, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals for the fifth time in six trips to the key Australian Open tune-up event.
The two-time Australian Open champion — in 2012 and 2013 — will next face third-seeded Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion who beat big-serving three-time Brisbane International winner Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Pliskova went into the match on a 10-match winning streak in Brisbane and was coming off a second-round win over another former No. 1, Naomi Osaka. But Pliskova was often on the back foot with Ostapenko hitting 50 winners.
Azarenka opened Day 5 on Pat Rafter Arena and quickly took a 4-1 lead before withstanding a comeback from the No. 56-ranked Burel. She took an early break in the second set and finished off in 92 minutes.
“I felt that whenever I needed, I was able to step up my game,” Azarenka said.
No. 2-seeded Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, also stepped up her game in a 6-1, 6-0 win over No. 13 Elise Mertens.
Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion, was playing a night match against Zhu Lin.
On the men’s side, 2017 champion Grigor Dimitrov beat Daniel Altmaier 6-1, 6-2 with 20 winners and just five unforced errors. Dimitrov will next play Australian wild card Rinky Hijikata, who beat Czech qualifier Tomas Machac 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (4). (AP)
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