Australian Open: Rafael Nadal registers victory in his opening match
Melbourne, Jan 14 (IBNS): Spanish Tenni star Rafael Nadal commenced his Australian Open campaign with a win over James Duckworth in the first round of the tournament here on Monday.
Nadal defeated his opponent 6-4, 6-3, 7-5.
Nadal completed the match against the opponent four months since his last official match against Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro in last year’s US Open where he had retired hurt.
Nadal withdrew his name from the Brisbane International warm-up in the first week of January after he complained of a thigh strain.
Nadal had reached the quarter-finals of last year’s Australian Open.
However, he had retired hurt in the middle of the match against Croatia’s Marin Cilic in that clash.
James put up a spirited performance against the former champion on Monday.
However, Nadal was successful in completing his first victory in the tournament.
“Of course, it’s not easy to come back after a lot of months especially against a player playing super aggressive every shot,” Nadal was quoted as saying by Australian Open website.
“He went on court with determination not to hit more than two balls in a row from the baseline, it was tough," he said.
“I felt solid with the second [serve]. And in general terms I am happy about the victory of today against, as I said before, a very difficult opponent to play," he said.
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