Rafael Nadal returned to the ATP almost a year after an injury suffered at the 2023 Australian Open and reached the quarter-finals of the tournament in Brisbane, where he was dramatically eliminated by Jordan Thompson after missing three match points.

Rafael Nadal felt pain in his thigh in the match against Jordan Thompson

Rafael Nadal was one step away from reaching the semifinals of the ATP tournament in Brisbane, but dropped three match points against Jordan Thompson and ended up being beaten in three sets, 5-7, 7-6(6), 6 -3.

In the deciding set, the Iberian asked for a medical time-out with thigh pain, and although the match continued, the balance was tipped in favor of the Australian, who advanced to the semi-finals.

At the press conference, Rafa Nadal talked about his health and said that he will need a few days to understand whether to worry or not.

“I need to see how I wake up tomorrow. These days, when I spoke to you, I always did it with caution, because I know that after a year it is difficult for the body to play in the highest level tournaments. You never know how your body will react.

That’s why I have to accept things as they are. Hopefully it’s nothing too bad and I’ll get a chance to train next week and play in Melbourne. The truth is, I’m not 100% sure about anything right now.

The pain is in the same area as last year, but different. I feel it more on a muscular level. Last year it was a tendon and it’s more like a tired muscle. It’s definitely not the same as last year because I felt it instantly. I didn’t feel it today.

The only problem is that it’s in a similar area, and that makes you worry a little more than usual. The best thing that can happen is that the muscles will be supercharged after the efforts of these three days and this tough match. That would be ideal, but we can’t know today.

You can see that I could play these games well. A lot can happen to the body after a year without playing. I hope it’s because the muscle is tired. In this respect, it would be a normal process. If that’s all, perfect. I didn’t come here to win tournaments, I came here to try to give back in the most positive way possible.

I hope that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow the sensations in the leg will return to normal. That would be very good news. If I feel bad, I’ll do some tests and we’ll see. Now it’s time to sit back and wait to see how I wake up tomorrow and the day after.” Nadal said, according to puntodebreak.com.

ATP Brisbane, semi-finals

The ATP Brisbane semi-finals will take place on Saturday and can be watched live on Digisport channels.

Runa Holger (1) – Roman Safiullin (39 ATP)

Jordan Thompson (55 ATP) – Grigor Dimitrov (2)

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.