Rafael Nadal

2023 - 1 - 15

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Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

Australian Open 2023 day one: Rafael Nadal v Jack Draper – live (The Guardian)

Game-by-game report: Rafa Nadal faces a potential banana skin in the first round against rising British star Jack Draper. Join Angus Fontaine for updates.

The US duo Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff are also through to the second round. Weather update: According to our woman on the ground, Emma Kemp, it’s “hot af” in Melbourne today. Despite the furnace-like heat the combatants will have a quick warm up and then we’ll get to the action. The players are spotted in the bowels of Rod Laver Arena. There’s a 12 shot rally for the third point, the ball bouncing high but Rafa takes the point and then the game to love. Tumaini Carayol had this to say about the clash: Nadal’s training top and shoes match the colour of the blue court, but once he peels his top off, he’s in a bright orange playing shirt. The in-form Jack Draper is his opponent. The serve is his weapon and his first rips down the line, too fast for Nadal. Elevated to top seed following the withdrawal of injured world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz. He wins both opening rallies and then draws Draper into the net for the third point. Nadal* 2-1 Draper (* denotes server) Nadal has been highly critical of the balls being used in this tournament and they do appear to be bouncing big on the players, requiring each to take them on the rise and roll high shoulders at them.

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Image courtesy of "Tennis Magazine"

Rafael Nadal wins opening match at Australian Open, ties Ivan ... (Tennis Magazine)

The Spaniard got the 1068th win of his career with a four-set victory over Britain's Jack Draper on Rod Laver Arena.

Awaiting Nadal in the second round will be No. “Well, if we put in perspective all the situation I went through the last six months, it has been a very positive start. Just super happy to be back here in Rod Laver Arena, and with a victory that I needed. And the match was a brawl from the start. Nadal couldn’t have asked for a more dangerous first-round opponent than Draper, though—not only was the 21-year-old British lefty only five spots out the seeds, but he came into the Australian Open with momentum, too, having reached the semifinals in Adelaide last week. Facts & Stats

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Image courtesy of "The Japan Times"

Rafael Nadal victorious at Australian Open but heartbreak for Nick ... (The Japan Times)

Top-seeded Nadal recovered from a second-set wobble to defeat the 38th-ranked Briton 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena.

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Image courtesy of "Tennis365"

Rafael Nadal overcomes error-strewn performances and cramping ... (Tennis365)

Defending champion Rafael Nadal was far from his best as he produced an error-laden performance during his opening-round victory over Jack Draper at the ...

[Australian Open](https://www.tennis365.com/category/australian-open/) Draper’s former coach Justin Sherring told the Daily Telegraph: “We used to base a lot of our game development around Rafa.

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Image courtesy of "ESPN"

Rafael Nadal struggles at times in Aussie opener but prevails in 4 sets (ESPN)

It wasn't a vintage performance by Rafael Nadal, but the defending Australian Open champion began his pursuit of a 23rd Grand Slam with a four-set victory ...

"But unfortunately, that (is in the past), so we need to keep working.'' [Carlos Alcaraz](http://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=3782) is sidelined with an injury, is appearing in his 67th Grand Slam tournament. No doubt about that,'' said Nadal, who came back from a two-set deficit against Draper, ranked a career-best No. From there, though, Nadal would not drop another game, beginning his pursuit of a record-extending 23rd Grand Slam championship with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory that took more than 3½ hours in Rod Laver Arena. Nadal was not in peak form.

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Image courtesy of "ATP Tour"

Rafael Nadal On Jack Draper Win: 'I Needed A Victory' | ATP Tour ... (ATP Tour)

Rafael Nadal had to dig deep on Monday at the Australian Open to claw through his first-round match against Jack Draper. But for the defending champion it ...

I am happy that I was able to win against a great player this afternoon.” “When you break the abdominal, you start to protect yourself, putting the ball more to the left, trying to not do the movement, the full movement, with the abdominal.” But I think he is in the right position to have a very productive season. I am in a moment that I am more up and down. “I think it's only cramping that happened at the end to him. “To win against Jack, as I said before the tournament started, has been one of the toughest first rounds possible being seeded. “I needed a victory, so that's the main thing. A great future in front, I think. “But to win against Jack, I need to do things well. I think I did things well. The most important thing today is a victory against a tough opponent,” Nadal said. A win was a win.

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Image courtesy of "CNN"

'The ball boy took my racket': Rafael Nadal loses favorite racket in ... (CNN)

Midway through the first set against Britain's Jack Draper, the 22-time grand slam winner stood with his arms spread as explained to the umpire that he was ...

“The combination of lights.” “Unfortunately that passed, so we need to keep working. I need the dampener and everything,” added the Spaniard, referring to the small rubber device which tennis players place between the strings to lessen the impact when they hit shots. “I need the racquet back! “Normally, I have the number of the rackets under control so I said I need the stringer, but I need the stringer for the other racket,” Nadal explained, per Eurosport. After the match, Nadal described the racket snafu as a “funny situation.”

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Image courtesy of "Tennis365"

WATCH: Rafael Nadal 'needs his racket back' after ballboy ... (Tennis365)

Rafael Nadal is known for his idiosyncrasies and rituals before and during tennis matches so when a ballboy accidentally removed his playing racket from ...

[Australian Open](https://www.tennis365.com/category/australian-open/) [Tennis News](https://www.tennis365.com/category/tennis-news/) I’m here to just give myself a chance. “It’s a big challenge for me at the beginning to start the tournament. The racket didn’t make an appearance in time for the next game as Nadal had to use a different one and he went on to win the opening set 7-5. Channel Nine commentator John Fitzgerald joked “goodness me, that’s a big mistake and he knows.

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Image courtesy of "Daily Express"

Rafael Nadal clears up comical moment when Australian Open ball ... (Daily Express)

Rafael Nadal was involved in a bizarre incident at the start of his Australian Open clash with Jack Draper.

"So the other thing that I said to myself was ‘okay, I know that’s going to happen because I need victories to avoid that'. "Well, if you put into perspective how we arrived here with a lot of injuries in the last six months, then coming back it hasn’t been easy with losses on the road, I don't think it was a bad match at all," he said. But he was delighted at being able to put those issues behind him with a solid win to start the Australian Open. And he cleared up the situation, admitting that it was just a mix-up in communication. He was ultimately unable to recover enough to challenge Nadal any further with the Spaniard going on to win in four sets. But there was confusion on the court when, during the changeover and the score 4-3 in Nadal's favour, he went back to his chair to see something was missing.

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Image courtesy of "Yahoo Sports"

Australian Open 2023 Day 1: Rafael Nadal loses favorite racket in ... (Yahoo Sports)

Who won? Who lost? How did the Americans do? Find all that info and more right here.

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Image courtesy of "TSN"

Nadal opens with lengthy four-set win at Australian Open (TSN)

From there, though, Nadal would not drop another game, beginning his pursuit of a record-extending 23rd Grand Slam championship with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win ...

The No. You kind of just move on to the next one.” “I was humble enough to accept that (there were) going to be a little bit of ups and downs during the match,” Nadal said. “Today is just one of those days everything was working,” said Pegula, a quarterfinalist in Melbourne each of the past two years. There were plenty of other major titlists on the packed Day 1 schedule, with Petra Kvitova, Elena Rybakina, Jelena Ostapenko and Barbora Krejcikova among the winners. To go toe-to-toe with him on a big court like that is special,” Draper said. And physically, I’ll be first to say I’m still a work in progress.” From there, though, Nadal would not drop another game, beginning his pursuit of a record-extending 23rd Grand Slam championship with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win that took more than 3 1/2 hours in Rod Laver Arena. 38 this week, was making his fourth trip to a major and his best showing was getting to the third round at the U.S. All in all, it was a bit of a struggle. That's good, then, because the 36-year-old from Spain was not in peak form. After nearly two hours of so-so play, Nadal found himself even at a set apiece.

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Image courtesy of "Yahoo Canada Sports"

Australian Open 2023 Day 1: Rafael Nadal loses favorite racket in ... (Yahoo Canada Sports)

Who won? Who lost? How did the Americans do? Find all that info and more right here.

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