Not even Rafael Nadal himself would have expected to give a display like the one seen against Jason Kubler in just his second match in this return to competition. After an important test against Dominic Thiem, regenerating the body and confirming the positive sensations gained against the Austrian were the priorities of the Balearic Islands, who nevertheless came out to teach a lesson from another era.
In a gale in Brisbane, Nadal overwhelmed the Australian tennis player (6-1 and 6-2) and will play in the quarterfinals in his first tournament of the year and after an absence of 350 days behind him. The Spaniard has made it into the last eight of a tournament for the first time since Wimbledon 2022, when an abdominal tear stopped him in the semifinals, and he has done it with a bang, with a top-notch match and confirmation that, if the Physically he respects him, his tennis is ready for any type of challenge.
Because if against Thiem the beast that is Nadal already began to run wild, against Kubler it was completely unleashed. His start was exasperating for the rival, unfair even for the public, thunderous for the world of tennis, which was stunned by the overwhelming debut of the winner of 22 Grand Slams.
The one from Manacor won fourteen of the first fifteen points and the one they lost was due to a double fault. When Kubler, Australian and world number 102, managed to win a point on his merits, with a beautiful backhand volley, he stuck out his fist almost ironically and received a standing ovation from the audience. Nadal was in another world. Despite the unmitigated beating he inflicted on his rival, he got angry when a ball got caught in the net and frowned when he made a double fault that he didn't touch.
The ball speed, the variety of spin and a T-service that worked perfectly was disarming Kubler, who had never faced a member of the 'Big Three' and came away scalded from his baptism.
In less than forty minutes, Nadal had welcomed this tennis with a 6-1. Any prospect of his film improving from that moment on disappeared with the three slaps the Spaniard gave him at the start of the second set. One game, one break, and Nadal had more than half a match in his pocket. Kubler also needed medical attention on two occasions, both for a problem with his forearm. Some type of cramp, perhaps the result of nerves, gripped the Australian's right arm, who never felt comfortable despite playing at home.
His small brilliance, with some stylized climb to the net, was celebrated by his people, but the general affection was monopolized by Nadal, who has exceeded expectations after the longest 'hiatus' of his sporting career. He wasn't fazed by the warning he got for spending too much time in the bathroom between sets. He smiled and continued doing his thing.
Climbing in the ranking
Two matches and two victories is more than enough baggage to think that Nadal will be competitive in the Australian Open that will begin in Melbourne on January 14 and, with the only unknown being physical resistance to the five sets, the Spaniard can appear among the candidates to go far.
At the moment, he is in the Brisbane quarterfinals and has made another big jump in the ranking. With the victory against Thiem he moved to 541st in the rankings, an improvement of 131 places, and after beating Kubler he moved to 451st in the world. His next opponent will be another Australian, Jordan Thompson, who passed the round without playing due to the withdrawal of Frenchman Ugo Humbert.
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