It is confirmed! Rafael Nadal will face Grand Slam champion Dominic Thiem in his comeback match. With the chance of facing a qualifier in his first match since his injury in January, Nadal has found himself having a face-off with an old foe, Thiem, in Round 1 of Brisbane International.
Thiem has been struggling since 2021, when he suffered a wrist injury. Thiem has a 59-60 win/loss record since and has struggled to get past round 2 of a Grand Slam in the last two years. However, Rafael Nadal won’t be an injured and delated Theim, but rather an in-form one.
Starting 2024 on a good note, Theim has won both of his qualifying rounds matches, including a comeback against Giulio Zeppieri from a set down to step up a rematch of the French Open finals of 2018 and 2019.
Rafael Nadal, on the other hand, will prepare for the blockbuster round 1 clash by teaming up with Marc Lopez for his doubles match against Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson.
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Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem H2H
Nadal leads the head-to-head between the two 9-6. However, Theim leads head-to-head 2-1 when they face each other on hard courts. This 2-1 record also includes Thiem’s 4-set win over Nadal at the 2020 Australian Open.
Rafael Nadal road to the Brisbane International title
Round 1 – Dominic Thiem
Round 2 – Aslan Karatsev/Jason Kubler
Quarterfinal – Ugo Humbert/Jordan Thompson
Semifinal – Grigor Dimitrov/Tomas Etcheverry/Andy Murray
Final – Holger Rune/Ben Shelton/Sebastian Korda/Sebastien Baez
Editors pick
