Rafael Nadal beaten in first match back since injury in Brisbane doubles, Andy Murray also beaten

Sunday, December 31 was a great date for tennis fans as Rafael Nadal made his long-awaited return to the court. Nadal had been missing since the 2023 Australian Open after suffering a serious hip injury. There were some signs of the old Nadal in his doubles defeat as well as plenty of smiles. Stream the 2024 Australian Open live on Eurosport and discovery+.

Rafael Nadal was beaten in straight sets in his first match back since injury in a doubles clash with Marc Lopez in the Brisbane International.

Nadal hadn’t played since suffering a hip injury nearly a year ago in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open when he was beaten by Mackenzie McDonald.

The injury was so serious that it caused him to miss the entire 2023 term before he was cleared to return for the new season.

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Playing alongside Lopez there were glimpses of the old Nadal magic, including a couple of sumptuous backhands and some fine net play.

However, Nadal and Lopez couldn’t find a way past Australian duo Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson and they eventually fell to a 6-4 6-4 defeat.

'Incredible intensity' - Nadal wows Rune and Murray in practice sessions

Video credit: SNTV

Despite that, Nadal was all smiles - before, during and after the match - clearly just thrilled to be back on court.

And the Spaniard’s time in Brisbane isn’t over yet, with Nadal drawn to play against Dominic Thiem in the singles in a hotly anticipated first-round match.

Earlier in the day, Nadal’s two practice partners Andy Murray and Holger Rune showed some good stuff as a doubles pairing but ultimately succumbed to a tie-break defeat to Aslan Karatsev and Roman Safiullin.

Murray and Rune took the opening set, having taken the first game of the match with a break.

The second set produced the same pattern with Karatsev and Safiullin taking their break to force a match-deciding tie-break.

That went 10-5 in their favour, breaking Murray and Rune in each of their last four service points.

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