ATP Melbourne: Rafael Nadal starts the 2022 season with a win
Rafael Nadal started his tennis season 2022 with a sovereign 6: 2 and 7: 5 against Ricardas Berankis at the ATP Tour 250 tournament in Melbourne.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Jan 06, 2022, 08:23 am
Despite the dramatic events currently taking place around Novak Djokovic, tennis is also played in Melbourne. And Rafael Nadal has made a solid start to the ATP Tour 250 tournament, which is already being played on the Australian Open facility. Nadal won against Ricardas Berankis 6: 2 and 7: 5 and is now waiting for the winner of the game between Alexei Popyrin and Tallon Griekspoor.
There were some question marks behind Nadal's appearance in Australia, the Spaniard's last competition at the ATP Tour 500 event in Washington last summer. After that, Nadal had to undergo an operation, and at the end of 2021 there was also an infection with the corona virus. The match against Berankis, which was played in the Rod Laver Arena, was always under control of the 20-time major winner.
Nadal's old rival Andy Murray had already failed in Melbourne in round one to Facundo Bagnis. The Argentine, in turn, lost to Grigor Dimitrov, who is also already in the quarter-finals. The American Reilly Opelka entered the tournament as number two behind Nadal.
laver arena