Rafael Nadal’s comeback experienced a setback after he was dumped out of the Brisbane International quarter-finals by Jordan Thompson.
Nadal squandered three match points during the gruelling three hour, 16-minute-long clash, allowing the home favourite to clinch a 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-2 victory and register his first win against the Spaniard.
After almost 12 months off the court as a result of a hip injury, the 22-time Grand Slam champion acknowledged that he needs to ‘accept everything how it comes’.
‘’I need to see how I wake up tomorrow morning,’’ Nadal said post-match.
‘’These last few days, we have been talking about the positive things. That's why I am not overly-positive when I have been talking.
“I have been talking with a lot of precaution because I know after a year it is difficult for the body to be playing tournaments at the highest level.
“When the things are becoming more difficult, you don't know how your body is going to react. I need to be open.
‘’Nothing changed for me. The way I approach everything didn't change at all.
"I need to accept everything how it comes. If things happen, if I have one problem there, one problem to the other part of the body, I need to accept it.
“It’s a beginning, and I haven’t played in a tournament for such a long time. I hope to have the chance to be practising next week and to play in Melbourne [at the Australian Open].
‘’Honestly, I am not 100% sure of anything now.’’
While Nadal received a medical timeout at 1-4 down in the third set to receive treatment on his upper left leg, he quelled fears that the potential injury could cause the same problems as last year.
‘’It’s a very similar place to what happened last year, but different stuff, no? I feel more muscle. Last year was tendon. I felt that the muscle was tired,’’ Nadal said.
“It’s not the same as last year at all because when that happened, I felt something drastic immediately.
‘’Today, I didn't feel anything. The only problem is because the place is the same, you are a little bit more scared than usual.
“In an ideal world, it’s just the muscle supercharged after a few days of effort and a very tough match. That will be the ideal thing, something that we know that can happen today.
‘’That is why my goal is to try to be competitive in a few months.
“A lot of things can happen in a body like mine after a year without playing tennis.
‘’So, hopefully, it’s just that, just a muscle that is supercharged. If that's the thing, everything is perfect.’’
After two straight set victories got his comeback off to a flying start, Nadal admitted he was ‘sad’ of the result.
‘’Well, I’m tired, of course,’’ Nadal continued.
‘’Sad in this moment because I had plenty of opportunities. But I think he played a good match.
"For me, even though it was not the best match, I had a lot of opportunities to win it. I need to accept all these kinds of things.
“After a year, it’s normal that these things happen. As I say every day, every day is a different story, and things are difficult after such a long time.
“Today, the opponent played well and made me play one more ball. I didn't play badly, but I was just one ball away.’’
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