Nadal, who sustained a foot injury last year and was suspended at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2021, received a first-round bye at the Melbourne Summer Set before facing Lithuania’s 104th Berankis.
Rafael Nadal won the warm-up event for the Australian Open with two sets against Ricardas Berankis. AP
Melbourne: Rafael Nadal reinforced his return from Covid and injury with a patchy win over qualifier Ricardas Berankis at the Melbourne Summer Set tournament on Thursday.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion started his preparations for the Australian Open with a 6: 2, 7: 5 win in the second round, his first individual match on the ATP tour since August.
The 35-year-old, who tested positive for Covid last month, was straight in action when his rival Novak Djokovic was threatened with deportation from Australia.
Nadal, who suffered a foot injury last year and missed Wimbledon and the US Open in 2021, received a bye in the first round at the Melbourne Summer Set before he on Lithuania’s 104th Berankis.
Nadal, who played doubles on Tuesday, looked good early on and finished the first set comfortably by breaking Berankis twice.
The Spaniard broke Berankis early in the second set and looked after a clear victory a us, when he led 5: 2, only that his serve boiled over and brought the Lithuanian back into the game.
Berankis leveled the set to 5: 5 before Nadal held the last serve, then he broke off again to crown the victory.
In the quarterfinals he will now face either the Australian Alexei Popyrin or the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.
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Changed date:
January 06, 2022 1:08:39 PM
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Thiem, who reached the final of the Australian Open 2020 and lost to Novak Djokovic, should play against the number 2 in the world, Daniil Medvedev, at the ATP Cup opener.
The Greek star lost his first single game since going under the knife in late November, losing to Argentina’s number 11 Diego Schwartzman 6-7 (5/7) 6-3, 6-3 on Monday night.
Djokovic could still play at the Australian Open, said a Serbian team-mate on Thursday, despite the decision of the world number one at the last minute to withdraw from the ATP Cup in Sydney.
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