Nadal goes retro,beginswithwin
MATCHES TODAY
AUSTRALIAN OPEN World No. 1 dons sleeveless Tshirt, pink shorts, bands to revive mid2000s; routs Burgos It’s a positive start with a good result. If I go months without playing official match, it’s always a little bit more difficult
RAFAEL NADAL, world No. 1
If Rafael Nadal gave the Australian Open a throwback feel last year with his straight-out-of-the-mid-2000s final against Roger Federer, he’s completed the retro effect this year with a return to his sartorial roots - a sleeveless T-shirt.
Matching the muscle-exposing Nike tank top with neon pink shorts, wristbands and headband, Nadal also found his championship form again in a 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 rout of 37-year-old Victor Estrella Burgos in the first round at Melbourne Park.
The top-ranked Spaniard, who made a splash as a teenager with his trademark sleeveless shirts and knee-length pirate pants, came into this year’s Australian Open with questions about his health and readiness to compete following a taxing season that saw him capture two Grand Slams and return to No. 1.
Nadal had been forced him to withdraw from the ATP Finals in November due to a lingering right knee injury, and when the pain persisted, he also pulled out of a season-opening exhibition event in Abu Dhabi and his first tournament in Brisbane.
With only a few exhibition matches last week to test his form, Nadal had doubts he’d be ready to go in time for the first major of the year. But a dominant performance against Estrella Burgos - he had 28 winners and saved five of six break points he faced - left him feeling positive about his start in Melbourne.
“If I don’t feel myself ready, I will not be here. So I am happy to be here, happy that I’m on court again,” he said.
Nadal, who wore no protective strapping on his knee, left nothing to chance with eight service breaks in a complete first-up performance.
It took the 31-year-old Spaniard’s Australian Open record to 52-11 as he chases his second Australian title after beating Federer in the 2009 final.
“It’s a positive start with a good result. If I do months without playing official match, it’s always a little bit more difficult,” he said.
MELBOURNE:
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