Has Rafael Nadal ever won Brisbane International? Everything to know about Spaniard's performance at the tournament
Rafael Nadal made his return to tennis at the 2024 Brisbane International after nearly a year away from the sport.
The Spaniard last played at the 2023 Australian Open and sustained a hip strain during his second-round match. He had been out of action since due to repeated extensions in his recovery timeline.
The 37-year-old sent the tennis world abuzz when he announced that he would come back to the ATP Tour at the Brisbane International. He received a main draw wildcard and notched up a win in his opening-round singles contest against former US Open champion Dominic Thiem, 7-5, 6-1.
The former World No. 1 will play wildcard Jason Kubler in the second round. This was not the Spaniard's first outing in Brisbane. He played at the tournament for the first time in 2017 and was the No. 5 seed at the Adelaide International.
Rafael Nadal reached the quarterfinal of the ATP 250 tournament that year. This was his best performance at the event. The Spaniard bettered Alexandr Dolgopolov in the first round, 6-3, 6-3, and Mischa Zverev in the second round, 6-1, 6-1. He was ousted by No. 1 seed Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The Mallorca native also signed up to play in the 2019 Adelaide International and was seeded No. 1. He was all set to face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the first round but withdrew ahead of the match and was replaced by lucky loser Taro Daniel.
Rafael Nadal was in doubles action at the 2024 Brisbane International
Before marking his return in the singles game, Rafael Nadal played a doubles match at the 2024 Brisbane International alongside fellow Spaniard Marc Lopez. The duo faced the Australian pairing of Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell in the first round on December 31.
However, it was not a fairytale return for the Spaniards, who won five doubles titles together, including the gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games, as they were defeated 6-4, 6-4.
Marc Lopez revealed what led to him playing with Nadal in Brisbane, more than a year after he retired from the ATP Tour. Lopez said the 22-time Grand Slam Champion contacted a few weeks before the Brisbane International, proposing the idea of pairing up once again.
“I wasn’t expecting it, he mentioned it to me when we were practising in Kuwait, that he’d like to play a doubles match before singles and he suggested we play together. I’d had very little competitive action, but in the end, we did what we could,” Marc Lopez said after the doubles match.