In his first tour singles outing in five months, Rafael Nadal is back, subduing Lithuanian qualifier Ricardas Berankis at the Melbourne Summer Set on Rod Laver Arena on Thursday.
On the same court he departed the Australian Open in 2021 – when Stefanos Tsitsipas snuffed out his two-set lead in the quarterfinals – Nadal was pushed but ultimately prevailed 6-2 7-5 against the 104th-ranked qualifier.
Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka later booked her quarterfinal berth in the Melbourne Summer Set 1 event, trouncing Belgian qualifier Maryna Zanevska 6-1 6-1 in under an hour.
Osaka, the top seed, joins No.2 seed Simona Halep in the last eight of the WTA 250 event; Halep earlier on Thursday saw off fellow Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse in straight sets.
Nadal, who collected titles on clay in Barcelona and Rome last season, locked in a quarterfinal berth after 92 minutes against Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, a 6-3 4-6 6-3 Thursday night winner over Australian Alexei Popyrin.
While he finished with three fewer winners than his opponent’s 19, his unforced error count of 18 was almost half – a tidy performance after his stint on the sidelines.
“Honestly, I've been going through some difficult, challenging moments the last year and a half but in general terms I'm super happy to be back in competition,” Nadal said.
“Of course it's important to start with a victory. That gave me the chance to play another time tomorrow and that's the main thing at this moment because I didn't play for such a long time.”
Rafa. Is. BACK ? @RafaelNadal • #MelbourneTennis ? #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/i1bncXi3pp
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 6, 2022
With the roof closed due to afternoon thunderstorms, the two men in black stood toe to toe early on before the top seed made his first move with a break in the fourth game.
This was the former world No.1’s first singles test of his Australian summer swing and he quickly found his rhythm as he broke to secure the opening set on Berankis’s 11th unforced error.
Only twice last year had the Lithuanian won three matches in succession at any level, but having won through qualifying and beaten Marcos Giron in the first round, he had already done so in his first event of the new season.
In search of his third career top-10 win, Berankis displayed his shot-making best when he plucked an angle volley winner on the stretch to bring the contest back on serve to 1-2 in the second set.
And the 31-year-old improved to a perfect two from two on break points when he honed his aggression to thwart Nadal’s first attempt at serving out the match at 5-3.
Working his way back to full match fitness, the top seed was relieved to avoid a tie-break as he broke to wrap up the clash on a whipping forehand winner into the open court.
“The main thing is being healthy. That's probably the only thing,” Nadal said. “[I need to] be patient because sometimes it can be frustrating working and not seeing a real improvement and that's what happened for a lot of weeks.”
Nadal had called time on his 2021 season to heal a left foot injury, following a third-round loss to Lloyd Harris in Washington in August.
Match time was of the essence this week and the reason he elected to make a low-key return alongside Jaume Munar in his first doubles match in nearly two years on Tuesday.
“I considered that. Talking with my team, as I said before, five or six months without … a professional event probably will be positive to play a match before the beginning to be in rhythm,” he said.
“In doubles, things always happen fast. It makes you feel alive on the tour again. I think that was a positive thing.”
Osaka improves in second outing
Melbourne Summer Set 2 top seed Osaka was notably sharper on Thursday night than in her three-set opening round against Alize Cornet.
The 24-year-old had contested just six tour events since her triumph on the same court at last year’s Australian Open, so was impressed at having slashed her unforced error count from 55 against Cornet to 18.
It was an improvement of which she was not prepared to take all the credit.
“I feel like I'm the type of player that gets better with matches, but Wim [Fissette]'s a really great coach,” Osaka said.
“I think we get along really well. Me and my whole team, we have really good chemistry and he really understands me really well, so I'm honoured to have him as my coach.
"I think we're just growing and we're learning more about each other so it's really cool.”
"Wim's a really great coach. You can put the camera on him and zoom in." ?
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) January 6, 2022
"Oh you guys did it!" ??
Never change Naomi.
Watch: @9Go
Stream: https://t.co/lLcvkRdcCk#9WWOS #Tennis pic.twitter.com/vc8DJdpeci
World No.82 Zanevska had never beaten a current top-20 player in three previous attempts and the step-up in firepower she faced from Osaka was distinct as the Japanese star finished with 14 winners to set a quarterfinal showdown against former world No.9 Andrea Petkovic.
“I just know she's a really good player and I just remember watching her do her little dances after she won," Osaka said of Petkovic.
"I don't want to see that tomorrow, but yeah, I'm just really happy to be out here, so hopefully we play a good match tomorrow.”
Former top-10 players Halep, Kasatkina advance
Earlier, Melbourne Summer Set 2 third seed Daria Kasatkina broke a hoodoo against Madison Keys with her first win in eight encounters against the American, 7-6(4) 2-6 6-3, while Halep secured a Summer Set 1 quarterfinal berth with a routine 6-2 6-1 victory over doubles partner Ruse.
The Romanian, who missed Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Olympics last season due to a calf injury, booked a showdown with sixth seed Viktorija Golubic.
“Yeah very happy that I could win this match in this way,” Halep said. “At the beginning it was a little bit different, so I didn't feel the ball great, but slowly I started to feel the game and I think I was dominating the match.”
Slovak Alex Molcan pulled off the biggest upset of the day when he brought down fourth seed David Goffin 7-5 6-3 in 97 minutes. It set a quarterfinal encounter with Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori, an earlier winner over Australian Jordan Thompson 7-6(3) 5-7 6-3.
Meanwhile, third seed Grigor Dimitrov bounced back from the brink to deny Andy Murray’s conqueror, Facundo Bagnis, in two hours and 47 minutes.
Bagnis served for the match at 5-4 in the second set before the Bulgarian rallied to advance 5-7 7-6(3) 6-3.