Barcelona Open: Rafael Nadal back to winning ways on return from injury

Rafael Nadal made a winning return to competitive tennis when he beat Italy’s Flavio Cobolli 6-2, 6-3 in the first round match at the Barcelona Open on Tuesday.

Nadal was back playing on his favourite surface after a whopping 681 days, with the last match being his triumphant French Open final in 2022. Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, will face Alex de Minaur in the second round of the Barcelona Open. The Spaniard enjoys a superior 3-1 head-to-head record over Minaur.

Nadal is ranked 644 on the ATP Tour currently and is playing in the clay court tournament using a protected ranking.

The Spaniard is playing only his second tournament of the season after a quarter-final appearance at the ATP 250 tournament in Brisbane in January, where he had a hip problem flare up. After missing almost the entire 2023 season, Nadal withdrew from the Australian Open, Doha and Indian Wells.

He showed glimpses of old form and was brilliant at converting points and covering the court well. He looked solid in his serve, and his returns were on cue too.

Nadal broke Cobolli in his second service game and jumped to a quick 4-1 lead in the first set. Lengthy baseline exchanges were the norm as Nadal made Coboli run from corner to corner in almost every rally. He soon wrapped up the first set and raced to another 4-1 lead in the second, despite an early exchange of breaks.

He kept it simple and soon wrapped the match in his favour with thunderous forehand wins.

Coboli was left to rue the 41 unforced errors he had committed in the match, with 27 of them coming in the first set.

Nadal has set his sights on the French Open, which he has won a record 14 times in his illustrious career. The southpaw has indicated many times that the ongoing season might be the final in his playing career, and a 15th French Open title will be the icing on the cake for the illustrious former World No. 1.