Rafael Nadal’s comeback effort ended Wednesday with a second-round loss to No. 4 seed Alex De Minaur at the Barcelona Open in Spain.
Competing for the first time since early January, Nadal began his Spanish homecoming Tuesday with a 6-2, 6-3 win against Italy’s Flavio Cobolli.
The 12-time Barcelona champion ran out of steam against De Minaur, whose 7-5, 6-1 win in one hour, 52 minutes made him the first Australian ever to defeat Nadal on clay.
“I think about the only thing I might have on Rafa on clay is physicality at this stage of his career,” De Minaur said. “I decided to try and make the rallies quite physical and long, use my speed to my advantage. It’s never easy against him.”
Nadal, 37, took a 5-4 lead in the first set before losing nine of the next 10 games. De Minaur broke Nadal’s serve five times in the match to improve to 2-3 head-to-head against the 22-time Grand Slam winner.
Still, Nadal was encouraged by his play after such a long layoff, especially with his signature grand slam event — the French Open in Paris — not far off.
“I feel much more comfortable and happier today than one week and a half ago,” he said. “I was able to manage to play two matches, played against a great player. I was not very far [away], without a doubt. I feel myself, if I am able to keep practicing days on the tour, and my body allows me to spend hours on court and have practices the way that I need.
“I hope to be competitive. I hope and believe I can be competitive in a few weeks. That’s the way that I need to proceed today, and to give me a chance to be ready at least to compete at Roland Garros.”
De Minaur won 75 percent (21 of 28) of the points on his first serve, compared to 58 percent (29 of 50) for Nadal. The ratios on the second serve were even more in De Minaur’s favor, 65 percent to 35 percent.
Nadal, who underwent hip surgery last June, sustained a “micro tear on a muscle” in a quarterfinal loss to Jordan Thompson at the Brisbane International in January and later withdrew from the Australian Open.
Nadal’s career record at Barcelona fell to 67-5 in 17 appearances. He won the tournament for the first time in 2005 and most recently in 2021.
–Field Level Media
