Rafael Nadal Learns His Doubles Draw In Brisbane Ahead Of Tennis Return

Rafael Nadal will play two matches at the Brisbane International the following week.

He will make his ATP Tour comeback after a 12-month absence.

Prior to Saturday, December 30th, when the draw for the tournament took place,

everyone in the tennis world was focused on Rafael Nadal’s name and potential first-round opponent.

The Spaniard might draw any of the 32 players in the ATP 250 competition because he is using a wild card.

 

The career-threatening hip injury the Spaniard experienced at the 2023 Australian Open has kept him out of action for a whole year.

Surgery in June was necessary to fully heal from the injury.

On the eve of Roland Garros last season, Nadal was forced to call it quits on his season.

The 37-year-old travelled to Kuwait to practice with French Next Gen player Arthur Fils inside his academy during the offseason,

honing his skills and improving his physical condition.

He then returned to Mallorca to celebrate the holiday season with his family and resumed his court time.

In order to accomplish a career-long dream of winning a clean sweep of singles and doubles titles,

Rafael Nadal has since discovered his draw upon his much anticipated journey to Australia to compete in Brisbane for just the second time.

It’s not shocking that he decided to play doubles.

Despite the fact that it will be his first competition since that unforgettable match at the 2022 Laver Cup with longtime adversary Roger Feeder.

In order to gain confidence and become used to hard courts,

Rafael Nadal hopes to log enough hours and minutes on the tennis court.

In addition, he wishes to restore the familiarity of competitiveness that he has missed.

He will therefore be paired with fellow countryman Marc Lopez.

The two will take on Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson, an Australian duo,

after accepting a doubles wild card.

The Spaniards, who are expected to play the fifth-seeded team of Nikola Mektic and Hugo Nys in the second round, have a very difficult draw.

But given their strong camaraderie from their doubles victory at the Rio Olympics eight years ago,

they are unlikely to be phased by the challenge.

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