The Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal will face another former Grand Slam champion in his comeback after almost a year of injury.
In the first round of the ATP tournament in Brisbane (December 31st to January 7th), the 37-year-old will face the Austrian Dominic Thiem. The former world number three was drawn to Nadal as a qualifier, with the match expected to take place on Tuesday.
The 30-year-old Thiem, who won his only Grand Slam title in the US Open final in five sets against Alexander Zverev in 2020, has lost much of his former strength after wrist surgery in 2021. He is currently only ranked 98th in the world.
Nadal last played at the Australian Open in January 2023 and then underwent hip flexor surgery. He is currently only 672nd in the world rankings, but thanks to his “Protected Ranking” status he does not have to compete in the qualification. Nadal and Thiem met 15 times in their careers. The Spaniard leads with 9:6 wins, but lost three of the last four duels.
In Brisbane, two German professionals are also in action in round one: Yannick Hanfmann from Karlsruhe (against Sebastian Korda/USA) and Daniel Altmaier from Kempen (against Tu Li/Taiwan).