Losing is not a drama. Above all, against a tennis player like Jordan Thompson, experienced, aggressive and grown in front of his audience. Not even the fact of wasting three match points should be cause for alarm for the Spaniard. The real problem in the Brisbane quarterfinals was the physical discomfort that Nadal suffered in the third set, which was hidden from the public as they were treated privately and which calls into question the tennis player's condition nine days before the start of the Open. Australia.
The defeat against Thompson (5-7, 7-6 (6) and 6-3) is practically an anecdote to lower the expectations of a tennis player who, after a year without competing, was able to win his first two matches, against Dominic Thiem and Jason Kubler, and only succumbed in the third, in an eternal physical battle of three and a half hours.
The match, which Nadal had to win in the second set, when he had three match points, went on until it physically exhausted the Spaniard, who had not tried a match at these latitudes since the first round in Australia last year, when he needed three hours and 43 minutes to defeat Jack Draper.
The effort took its toll and now all that remains is to know the extent of the problem. In the third set, when Thompson already had a break advantage, the Spaniard called the physio to come to the court and check the upper part of his thigh, practically at hip height. He did not want to reveal more about Nadal, who hid in the locker room to be treated for several minutes. Then he went out onto the court and continued playing normally and with a serious expression until Thompson did not miss his opportunity to clinch the match and achieved his first victory against Nadal, who defeated him in their two previous duels, in Paris-Bercy 2020 and Roland Garros 2022 .
The only regret that the Spaniard can have is knowing that he should have settled this much sooner. After recovering from a break down in the first set, taking that set, and from absolute equality until 5-4 in the second, Nadal had options so that there would be no more battle. He could do little on the first match point he had, with 5-4 in favor, but the two that he gave up in the subsequent tiebreaker hurt much more.
In both he had it in his hand. In the first, Thompson stretched to prevent the Spaniard's backhand shot from certifying his victory, and in the second, Nadal missed a parallel forehand by an inch. It was the difference between winning or losing, because Thompson took the final three points of the tie break and in the third he took advantage of Nadal lacking fuel and eaten up by the intense humidity of Brisbane.
While waiting to know the extent of the physical problem that Nadal suffered, the Spaniard will arrive in Melbourne in nine days with an honorable quarterfinal in the preparatory tournament, the same result as in 2017, when he made the final against Roger Federer in Australia. The baggage is positive, but it highlights the physical uncertainty of whether he will be able to last the five sets in the humidity and temperature conditions that Australia usually throws.
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