On the opening day of the first Grand Slam of the year, which lost to local idol Nick Kyrgios, Nadal managed to quell the rebellion of young British Jack Draper (7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1) and reverse his bad six-game losing streak in the last seven games.
“I needed the victory, that’s the main thing. It doesn’t matter the way. The most important thing is the victory against a tough opponent (…) one of the toughest in the first round being seeded,” he later reflected at a press conference .
With a powerful first serve and the ability to respond to Nadal’s long rallies, the 21-year-old Briton demonstrated at Rod Laver Arena the reasons that led him to climb 200 places in the ATP rankings in one year to number 38.
The first set did not unbalance until the last game, in which Nadal took hard drives and took advantage of two too long drop shots from his rival to break serve and win the first set. But at the restart, Draper was not intimidated and endorsed a double break by shooting. “Those are the games that change the game. I need to keep improving that,” admitted Nadal.
The balance was maintained until the middle of the third set, when Draper felt discomfort in his right thigh, which hampered his performance and forced him to seek medical assistance.
With a limping opponent, who in the end could hardly run and showed obvious gestures of pain, Nadal closed the pass to the second round where he will face the American Mackenzie McDonald.
Novak Djokovic returned to Australia after his deportation in 2022 for not being vaccinated against covid-19, Nadal is not only playing for the title, but the record of 22 Grand Slams, which the Serbian can match if he wins for the tenth time in Melbourne.
Right after Nadal, the women’s world number one Iga Swiatek stepped onto Center Court to face a tough first-round test against Germany’s Jule Niemeier, who had already made her suffer in the round of 16 of the last US Open. Pursuing her fourth Grand Slam, Swiatek claimed the match in nearly two hours 6-4, 7-5 after coming from behind from a break down in the second set.