Rafael Nadal dominant against Miomir Kecmanovic in first match after injury in Madrid

After losing in the Indian Wells final, Rafael Nadal returned at the 2022 Madrid Open, where he defeated Miomir Kecmanovic in the second round.

After winning 20 matches in a row at the start of the 2022 season, the Spaniard ultimately lost his twenty-first match to Taylor Fritz in the final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament at Indian Wells.

He made his return at another ATP Masters 1000 event, this time in Madrid, and began with a clean sheet on the clay courts, as he started with a dominant victory over Kecmanovic at La Caja Magica.

Nadal requested to play earlier on Wednesday as he wanted to attend the Real Madrid match at Santiago Bernabeu, and it seems that the Spaniard will manage to attend it as he swiftly dispatched his Serbian opponent from the court.

After both players won their service games at the beginning of the match, Nadal went on to win five games in a row to win the first set 6-1 in just 37 minutes of play, showing that he was in a hurry.

The Spaniard was looking to finish the match quickly, but the rain stopped him. The play later resumed shortly after, as the 21-time major winner broke Kecmanovic's serve and gained a 3-2 lead in the second set.

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However, the Serbian fought back and leveled the score in the second set. Still, the five-time Madrid Open champion showed his experience when the conclusion of the second set had to be decider in the tie-break.

He got more mini-breaks in the tie-break than his opponent to win the match 6-1, 7-6(4) and set up a third-round clash with the winner of the match between David Goffin and Botic van de Zandschulp.

Despite raising doubts over his injury prior to the tournament, it looks like Nadal is in very good shape and ready to compete for the trophy.

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