They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and Rafael Nadal was determined to make up for lost time and put on a show for tennis fans on his comeback.
The legendary Spaniard worked his magic on his return to the singles court for the first time in 12 months. Nadal, who accepted a late wild card at the Brisbane International, never missed a beat during a rousing 7-5, 6-1 win over Dominic Thiem.
The Austrian was once a former rival of Nadal and the ultimate challenger for the 37-year-old on his hallowed court in Paris on two occasions. But Thiem has endured his own personal torment with injuries in recent years, leading to his big fall from grace.
Testament to that claim, Thiem sits in 98th spot in the world rankings and had to go through qualifying for an ATP 250 event. As a former Grand Slam champion who achieved a career-high mark of No. 3, this is the lowest it can get.
But if Thiem wanted any inspiration, he better not look beyond the man standing on the opposite side of the net. From the first point, Nadal stood true to his words when he said he did not "forget" to play the beautiful sport. All he needed was to have his health intact.
After recovering from a gruesome hip surgery, Nadal's return to the circuit has been like a ray of sunlight. The win over Thiem began with the Spaniard arrowing a bullet forehand winner that kissed the baseline, leaving tennis fans wanting more.
As the match went on, Nadal's self-belief and confidence grew, and he began hitting more authoritatively; Thiem, it has to be remembered, wasn't fazed by the occasion, having played two nailbiters in qualifying, one of which he needed to save multiple match points, and living through the horror of a venomous snake invasion.
But with Nadal taking command of rallies and improving rapidly on serve (never faced a break point), Thiem eventually fought a lost cause. The entire highlight reel of Nadal's comeback can be seen in the video below.
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