By Chris Oddo | Tuesday January 3, 2016
Rafael Nadal made a successful Brisbane International debut on Tuesday by snapping a two-match losing streak against Alexander Dolgopolov of the Ukraine, 6-3, 6-3.
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Nadal improved to 6-2 against the Ukrainian by converting all four of his break opportunities and winning 63 percent of his second serve points.
“Very excited about playing in this great court and very happy about the start for sure. Winning against Alexandr is never easy, and I didn’t compete for a while.”
A jet-lagged Nadal, who had recently flown in from Abu Dhabi where he won an exhibition title, added: “I am through, so very happy for that.”
The 30-year-old Spaniard fell behind when he was broken in the third game of the opening set, but he quickly rebounded to win the next four games.
Nadal then broke Dolgopolov in the fifth and ninth games of the second set to steer his way to victory in 74 minutes. He will face Germany’s Mischa Zverev in the second round at Brisbane.
Our Take: It’s a strong start for Nadal, who is hoping to build confidence with no setbacks as he prepares to make an impact at the Australian Open. Nadal did not reach a quarterfinal at a major in 2016—the first time that has happened since 2004—and he is eager to get back on track quickly in 2017. With a current ranking of No.9 it would behoove the Spaniard to make a good showing in Brisbane so that he can try and lock up a Top-8 seedig at the Australian Open.
As far as the game goes, things seem to be clicking into place quite nicely. Nadal was on the attack against Dolgopolov early and often. He was only broken once and did a great job of protecting his second serve, winning 10 of 16 of those points.
Notes and Quotes
Nadal has opened his season at Doha eight times. He won the title there in 2014 and was runner-up in 2010 and 2016.
Nadal won 18 of 25 second serve return points against Dolgopolov.
Nadal said he’s still very tired after flying in from Abu Dhabi less than two days ago. "Today, at two in the afternoon, I was on the bed. I was destroyed. I'm not sure if it's better to play earlier or not. I think for the moment I think it's better for me to play later," Nadal said.