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By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, May 4, 2022

 
Rafael Nadal

Playing his first match in 45 days, Rafael Nadal fired 18 forehand winners beating Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1, 7-6(4) in his 2022 clay-court debut.

Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty

Leaning into a low crouch, Rafael Nadal sprang off the soft surface repeatedly rocketing high into the air.

All that activity occurred on the red carpet Madrid laid backstage for home hero Nadal’s comeback. It began with Nadal unleashing a series of kangaroo high hops prior to today's match.

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Before he even struck a shot, Nadal was ready for launch.

Playing his first match in 45 days, Nadal fired 18 forehand winners dispatching Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1, 7-6(4) in his 2022 clay-court debut at the Mutua Madrid Open.




Before a packed crowd that included tournament director Feliciano Lopez, recently-retired Carla Suarez Navarro and Nadal's family, the 35-year-old Spanish superstar looked fit and fierce in his first match back from suffering fractured rib in Indian Wells last March. Given his recent lack of match play and limited training time on his beloved dirt, Nadal was ecstatic with the result against in in-form opponent.

"I leave the match very, very happy," Nadal told the media in Madrid. "You have to be sincere with yourself whenever you can. You have to be truthful to yourself. My preparation has not existed. You cannot expect great things at the beginning, because before coming here, coming here, first day training was last Thursday, I had trained very, very little.

"I had just like trained like one day, and all trainings have had some up-and-downs, it's been a roller coaster. I have had better days, worse days. It's logical."

Nadal sustained that fractured rib in his three-hour marathon match win over compatriot Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells semifinal and played with the injury bowing to Taylor Fritz in the Indian Wells final on March 20th.

The rib issue did not seem to inhibit Nadal’s swings on any shot as he converted four of six break points improving to 21-1 on the season.

"First set was very good. The second set I don't consider it a bad set, but as I am saying, when you have been a long time without competing, it's normal that you have up-and-downs in a match because you have to recover your routine," Nadal said. "You have to know when you attack a ball, when you have to be conservative. Well, these are just things that only competition can give you.

"Physically, at some moments I was a little bit more tired than normal. At the end of the day, the rib is a problem that limits your game a lot. There are injuries that allow you to do physical work, aerobic work. The rib has not allowed me to do anything. So I'm out of time with that, but I'm not worried.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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"I just think that every minute that I am out there on the court is something positive. Today I was able to play 1 hour 55 minutes against an opponent that was playing really well in these last months, so a really good victory, a lot of value to it. So 1 hour 55 minutes on court helps me a lot to reach my final goal, which is to recover my previous health and previous fitness. I'm very excited about it."

Continuing his quest for a sixth Madrid championship, Nadal will face David Goffin in the round of 16. Goffin beat Munich finalist Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-2.Should Nadal win and Barcelona champion Carlos Alcaraz defeat ninth-seeded Briton Cameron Norrie, then the Spaniards will meet in the quarterfinals of the nation's Masters 1000.

Tennis Express

The first clay-court clash between Nadal and Kecmanovic featured an early feeling-out period. In the fourth game, Kecmanovic missed a forehand to face break point and Nadal made him pay.

The five-time champion crunched a forehand pass, waited for his opponent's stab volley to drop and snapped a smash down the middle breaking for 3-1.

Of course, it's not really a break until you back it up. Kecmanovic tested Nadal to deuce in the next game.




Rising to meet the challenge, Nadal spun out of the corner, danced to his left and drilled a down the line dagger that helped him consolidate for 4-1.

Coached by former Madrid champion and Nadal nemesis David Nalbandian, Kecmanovic took the court as one of the Tour's hottest players. Riding a streak of six straight quarterfinals, Kecmanovic was flat-footed when Nadal lasered a 100-mph diagonal forehand for another break point.




Trying to attack the Spaniard's forehand on an approach, Kecmanovic was burned as Nadal torched a crosscourt pass breaking for 5-1 after 35 minutes.

The two-time Olympic gold-medal champion dabbed a clever drop volley for three set points. Nadal needed only one sliding as serve winner to snatch his fifth straight game and a one-set lead. Nadal won 12 of 15 first-serve points in the 38-minute opening set.

Rain temporarily suspended play after the Serbian held to start the second set. Following a delay to close the retractable roof over Manolo Santana Stadium—Nalbandian used the time to urge Kecmanovic to go after his shots with more aggression—and a three-minute warm-up, play resumed.

A double-fault from Kecmanovic gave the Spaniard two break points. Nadal needed only one slashing a forehand winner breaking for 3-2 after 66 minutes.

Spewing three unforced errors cost Nadal confirmation hold as the Spaniard ended a 21-shot rally netting a forehand to surrender serve in the sixth game.

Showing competitive vigor, Kecmanovic withstood a tense 10-minute hold, staving off a break point along the way, to edge ahead 4-3.

The third seed pumped a pair of aces leveling after 10 games.

The slightest mistake, even an almost imperceptible one, can be costly on clay against Nadal. A split second of indecision left Kecmanovic vulnerable and Nadal tomahawked a forehand winner for break point. Kecmanovic blinked missing a shot beyond the baseline as Nadal broke with a shout for 6-5.

Serving to close his 21st win of the season, Nadal double faulted and floated a backhand long to face break point.

The 13-time Roland Garros missed another backhand long as Kecmanovic broke for the second time in the set sending the set into a tiebreaker with a clenched fist.




Carrying an 8-0 career Madrid tiebreaker record into this breaker, Nadal traded mini breaks with Kecmanovic as they changed sides deadlocked 3-3. Driven back by a deep return, Kecmanovic netted a forehand off his back foot as Nadal snared the mini break and a 5-4 lead.

Slamming a smash brough the 36-year-old Spaniard to set point. Nadal slashed an ace out wide sealing the 6-1, 7-6(4) triumph in one hour, 55 minutes.

It's the first step forward on what Nadal hopes will be a healthy clay campaign.

"I don't have any problems with my rib. It's a lot of things that I have to try to recover," Nadal said. "The rib is something because of stress and, you know, you are not able to do anything. It's very painful the first week, and the moment has been bad. But talking injuries, they normally happen, I had them in my knee, my ankle. Those ones are important but this one with the rib is just a matter of time. It's a determinate amount of time where you have to be calm between five and seven weeks.

"Mentally for me it's easier to handle this kind of injuries, but for me difficult to handle it because of the moment. But when you have a lot of injuries like me, you know that you are able to come back, so mentally it's easier when you have a fixed amount of time that you will be able to come back."

 

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