(AFP) – Rafael Nadal made light work of Flavio Cobolli on a triumphant return from injury at the Barcelona Open on Tuesday.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion had not played an ATP Tour match since January but dispatched the Italian 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 25 minutes to reach the second round.
Rafa was able to play on clay for the first time since winning the French Open in 2022 and showed flashes of his usual brilliance in a solid display.
“It was a good start — when you return you can’t get rid of the doubts in one day, above all, on a physical level,” Rafa told TVE.
“Within what it could be, it was a good first round. He made mistakes and I think I played the game that I had to play.”
Rafa, who missed most of 2023 injured, will face Alex de Minaur on Wednesday after breezing past Cobolli.
“It will be at a speed that I don’t know if I will be able to keep up with, but I’ll try,” Rafa said of facing the 11th-ranked De Minaur.
After a double fault to fall 30-0 behind Rafa found his rhythm, with Cobolli intimidated by the fervent support for the Spaniard on the court named after him.
Rafa converted his third break point in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead, with Cobolli surviving four more to hold at 4-2 down.
The 12-time Barcelona Open winner broke again to claim the set in 43 minutes, clenching his fist in celebration.
Cobolli handed Rafa a break for 2-0 in the second set with two more unforced errors but finally put some pressure on Rafa’s serve in the third game to break back.
However Rafa broke again for 3-1 after Cobolli’s third double fault and served it out to triumph.
He did not produce any aces and his serve was effective but not explosive.
“I’ve gone months without being able to serve, (and) although I’ve got a lot of excitement to play here and do the best I can, I’m not going to go crazy with the serve,” added Rafa.
“I have to serve with caution that the moment I’m in dictates… there are moments in which I feel more liberated and others in which I’m more careful.”
© 2024 AFP
Rafa te he visto muy bien, sigue así,
Me alegro!! de tu vuelta
The smile on Rafa’s face at the end of the match says it all – a mixture of delight, relief and gratitude. I’m so happy that he got through R1 comfortably. Even though his serve was visibly slower, Rafa’s ground strokes were solid. Now our champ will have to step it up against De Minaur, but he can do it.
I saw again the difference of Rafa to the other players, he celebrates his points yes, and its very exciting to watch but never offensive to anyone, not even to his opponent, except maybe to his haters.
Congrats, Rafa👍Thank you for fighting so hard to return to play in Barcelona-it finally feels like clay season is here! Happy to see and hear the fans giving you a standing O as you entered the stadium. Hope you are healthy and feeling more confident. Enjoy every moment, Rafa. It was a delight to see you play and smiling in victory😎💪🎾🍀❤️
What a great result rafa so very pleased for you vamos rafa congratulations.
So happy to see Rafa back on the court. Step by step, champ❤️
Welcome back Rafa! Vamos💪🫶
Was so happy to watch “our boy” on court today and it was clear that he was enjoying himself out there playing! I thought he looked good, movement was strong and his shots were spot on, including some beautiful backhand “down the line” returns. The commentators were saying (as David had noted previously) that he had struggling with either back or ab soreness and it’s true that he was tentative on his serve initially. But he was playing well, especially by the end of the match. And as Nadal himself has noted, his confidence improves once he starts competing and winning. Obviously De Minaur will be a bigger challenge (plays him on Thursday) but I’m with Rafa – just take it one day at a time and see what happens. In the meantime, as a Rafa fan I’m just delighted to see him back!!!!
I wish it were Thursday, but Rafa plays de Minaur on Wednesday. I agree with your comments. Rafa was serving faster by the end of the match. I am just happy to see Rafa back on court.
Yeah I realized that after I posted it, that he plays tomorrow not Thursday. Hopefully he will feel more confident and psyched after today’s win!