Rafael Nadal's comeback to tennis will be a spectacular one as he's set to face Dominic Thiem in his first singles match at the 2024 Brisbane International.
Nadal and Thiem have a history together because they contested two Roland Garros finals, which Nadal both won. Another similarity is the recent struggles that both have had due to various injuries.
Thiem never found his US Open-winning tennis since injuring his wrist though he keeps trying. Nadal is coming back from a complicated surgery and a year-long absence with very few expectations.
His first time back on the court didn't go so well, and he looked as rusty as you'd expect him to look. Will that be enough to take down Dominic Thiem? Maybe it's because the Austrian hasn't been playing well as well.
He barely squeezed through the qualifiers and was basically on the verge of losing that match. He won and earned a chance to play Nadal, so let's see what might happen.
Head-to-head:
They've played quite a few matches over the years, of course, with Nadal leading the H2H 10-6. The most recent match, however, was a few years ago in 2021, and it was an exhibition match. The last official match that 'counted' was in 2020 at the ATP Finals, and Thiem won that one.
Thiem won the one at the Australian Open earlier that year as well, so he clearly had him figured out. The problem for Thiem is that he's very far from that player, and Nadal, as rusty as he is, might be closer to his best than Thiem is. That's how bad the Austrian struggled recently.
Prediction:
It's pretty tough to figure out who might win this one. Nadal can, of course, win, but it would take him a pretty good effort. For some reason, I don't think he'll have enough. I think Thiem will be able to muster what he needs to and outlast Nadal in a close 3-set battle.
Prediction: Dominic Thiem to win in three sets.
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