Rafa Nadal beaten in doubles match on competitive tennis return: when is his first singles match in Brisbane?

Rafa Nadal’s return to Tennis didn’t quite go according to plan but the 22-time Gran Slam winner will have been pleased to simply be back out on court after almost a year of injury hell. “Just to be here is a victory,” he had claimed after touching down in Brisbane for this week’s ATP 250.

The 37-year-old had been sidelined since the 2023 Australian Open and there had been serious doubts as to whether he would ever be seen on court again in a competitive context. But after a long road back to fitness, the Spaniard is back for - potentially - one last season on tour, stating on Saturday it was “very likely” this would be his last Australian swing.

Nadal and López lose in straight sets to Aussie duo

Nadal made the last decision to enter the men’s doubles at the Brisbane Invitational with friend and coach Marc López. The veteran duo were beaten in straight sets (6-4, 6-4) by home favourites Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell in front of a full house at the Pat Rafter Arena, an unusual occurrence for a doubles match. This, however, was not just any old doubles match.

Although the result didn’t go the way the 14-time French Open champion would’ve wanted, the 73 minutes on court will have got some of the rustiness out of his system ahead of his singles return.

Who will Nadal play in the first round of the singles tournament? When is the match?

Unseeded Nadal could have been drawn to play one of the top seeds in the ATP 250, including Holger Rune, the current world number eight, and Americans Ben Shelton and Sebastian Korda. The Spaniard was instead paired with a qualifier or lucky loser in the first round and will ultimately play against Dominic Thiem. As a former world number three and the 2020 US Open winner, the Austrian is probably the toughest opponent he could’ve been handed from qualifying.

Nadal and Thiem will face off on Tuesday 2 January, with the match scheduled for the night session in Australia. That means it won’t start before 3:30 a.m. ET / 12:30 a.m. PT.