Nadal comeback ends at Barcelona Open, Osaka goes down in France

RAFAEL Nadal suffered his first defeat on his return to tennis after injury as he fell 7-5 6-1 against Alex de Minaur in the Barcelona Open second round yesterday.

The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back on court this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well but eventually crumbled against the hard-working world No 11 from Australia.

Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of the 2023 season, is hoping to compete at next month’s French Open, where he is the record 14-time champion.

The Spaniard, who has won the Barcelona clay-court title on 12 occasions, had eased past Flavio Cobolli on Tuesday in his first ATP Tour match since January, but said he was not favourite against De Minaur who has now won his last two clashes against the former world No 1.

It proved a far tougher challenge and despite showing flashes of his supreme quality on the court named after him, Nadal came up short in what he said he believes is his final appearance at the tournament.

The Australian broke in the first game and tested Nadal with a series of brilliant drop shots that Nadal could not reach. However, Nadal hit back with a break of his own in the sixth game and consolidated with a fizzing backhand for a 4-3 lead.

De Minaur broke to love to take a 6-5 lead as Nadal went wide and sealed the first set when the Spaniard pushed a shot into the net, winning the final 10 points as Nadal started to struggle.

The 25-year-old Australian broke for a 2-1 lead in the second set when Nadal could not return a powerful passing shot, and secured another break for 4-1.

De Minaur wrapped up his emphatic second-set performance with a third break when Nadal went long.

Meanwhile, Naomi Osaka refused to blame a lengthy trip from Japan to France after losing in straight sets to Martina Trevisan in the first round of the WTA event Rouen yesterday.

The former world No 1 was making her first appearance on clay since the 2022 French Open, when she was knocked out in the opening round and Trevisan reached the last four.

Osaka, who returned to action in January after taking a 15-month break while on maternity leave, had her chances in the first set against Trevisan, but the Japanese star could not capitalise on them and lost 6-4 6-2.

“It was really difficult for me … it was my second time hitting on this type of court.

“I think that overall I could have done better, but I’ve tried my best,” said Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion.

The 26-year-old only arrived in France on Monday after playing for Japan in a Billie Jean King Cup qualifier last week against Kazakhstan in Tokyo.

Osaka has never reached a tourlevel final on any surface other than hard courts, admitting the switch to clay was not an easy transition.

“I have never been the type to make excuses for myself, I just have to really do better,” she said, confirming her presence at next week’s Madrid Open.

“I think today, obviously, I didn’t hit too many great shots, and I could have done better.”