RAF AND READY
THE win was nice but being back on court was more important for Spanish legend Rafael Nadal.
The 20-time grand slam champion survived a couple of second-set hiccups at Melbourne Park on Thursday to dispatch qualifier Ricardas Berankis 6-2 7-5 in his first tour appearance in five months.
Nadal injured his foot during last year’s French Open and played only one more tournament afterwards – in Washington – before pulling the pin on his season.
He lost both his matches in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition event in Abu Dhabi in December before causing a worldwide stir when he announced he tested positive to Covid-19.
There was concern Nadal would miss the Australian summer but he said he always planned to return in Melbourne.
“I always wanted to come, honestly … we decided that our goal is to come to Australia, and I made that decision,” he said after defeating Berankis.
“After I got infected, I needed to see a little bit how my body improved after the Covid (and) I was able to practise two days at home before coming here.
“Even if I was not in perfect conditions, of course, after the 10 days at home I felt good enough and I always wanted to be back on the tour and I wanted to be here.”
Much tougher tests lie ahead for Nadal and he was never in danger against Berankis but twice handed back breaks in the second set, in evidence he still has room to improve.
But the former world No.1 said being healthy again and back on the professional circuit was a greater satisfaction than “victory or losing” after his foot and Covid problems.
“I felt so tired and I had fever (with Covid). I had to be on the bed for a couple of days without having the chance to move much, because I was very sick with fever,” he said.
“(It was) one of the toughest symptoms that I had in my life, in terms of flu.
“Then I decided when my PCR was negative, to come here as soon as possible, because that’s, in my opinion, the better way mentally and physically to try to recover and to be ready, and to adapt myself to the conditions here in
Australia.”
Nadal pulled out of the doubles. marc.mcgowan@news.com.au