The doubles team of Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez lost the match of the first round of the ATP tournament in Brisbane against the pair of Max Purcell / Jordan Thompson.

Rafael NadalPhoto: Patrick HAMILTON/AFP/Profimedia

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It was the first official match of the former ATP leader after almost a year’s break.

Purcell and Thompson won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, at the end of a match that lasted one hour and 13 minutes.

It will be recalled that Nadal and Lopez used the wild card to be able to play in the main draw of Brisbane.

Rafa and Marc won the Olympic doubles gold in 2016 after a final match against Romanians Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau.

Know

  • Nadal played his last official match at the Australian Open earlier this year when he lost to Mackenzie MacDonald in the second round.
  • Rafa has since missed the entire season with a hip problem and underwent surgery in June this year.
  • Although Novak Djokovic, one of his biggest rivals in his career, has said that Rafa will return to win major titles, the Spaniard believes that he is not ready to win ATP titles at the moment.

The tournament in Brisbane will be held from December 31 to January 7. It is part of the ATP 250 category, has a total prize pool of US$739,945, and there will be 32 players in the main singles at the start, with Kei Nishikori (in 2019) as the defending champion.

Australian Open 2024 will be held from January 14 to 28 in Melbourne.

What you need to know about Rafael Nadal

  • At the age of 37, the Iberian won 1,068 career victories and lost 220 times.
  • He has 92 ATP titles won over a period of time, and 22 of them are Grand Slam tournaments (two titles behind record holder Novak Djokovic).
  • He collected $134,640,719 in tennis prizes alone.

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