Rafa Nadal returned from an injury layoff to beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1 7-6(4) on Wednesday
Yet the warrior-like instincts kicked in and we were all reminded that Nadal, as long as he is standing, remains a physical and psychological force of nature on a tennis court.
Rafael Nadal will become the first man to win 21 Grand Slam titles if he defeats the Russian in Melbourne.
Nadal had said that he did not know if he would be fit to play against Australian Kyrgios, after appearing close to retiring mid-match against Fritz on Centre Court.
How Nadal surpassed the haul of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
There could be no place more appropriate for Djokovic to finally break free of his tie with Margaret Court on 24 Grand Slam singles titles than in her own backyard at Melbourne Park, where he has won the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup 10 times.
Nadal appeared close to retiring mid-match on Wednesday on Centre Court but he found the will to beat Fritz
With world number four Ruud already assured of a semi-final berth the match was in reality a dead rubber.
Nadal fought from two sets down to defeat Medvedev in a five-set thriller at Rod Laver Arena.
Rafael Nadal is the oldest title winner in the history of the clay-court tournament.
Alexander Zverev cruised past Frenchman Lucas Pouille in straight sets in the first round of the Australian Open on Sunday.
'What a heart, what a mindset, what guts, what everything, what a REFERENCE you are! I'm at your feet!'
Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final to win his fourth Grand Slam title.
Nadal has won the Australian and the French Open back-to-back and has the chance to become the first man to win all four majors in the same year
Images from Day 3 of the 2023 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Wednesday.
Nadal to make injury return at Madrid Open
Images from Day 6 at the French Open, at Roland Garros, in Paris, on Friday.
Sinner, Alcaraz will keep tennis' flag flying: Shastri
Nadal was able to see the funny side and kept on laughing.
Zverev twisted his ankle as he tried to retrieve a shot in the 12th game of the second set
Italy's Sinner and Spain's Alcaraz have won two Grand Slams each this year, with Alcaraz beating Sinner in closely fought clashes at the French Open semi-finals and the China Open final.
World No 1 Djokovic on Sunday won his sixth Wimbledon title. With this win, Djokovic now has 20 Grand Slams to his name and he is now equal with Swiss tennis maestro Roger Federer and Nadal.
Images from Day 7 of the 2025 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
A summary of Thursday's action at the US Open.
Nadal struggled with the problem in the build-up to the year's first Grand Slam
Denis Shapovalov said his Australian Open quarter-final opponent Rafael Nadal "100%" receives preferential treatment from officials and benefited from favouritism during the Spaniard's five-set victory on Tuesday.
Jabeur advances to first WTA 100 final in Madrid in style.
Novak Djokovic, who won Wimbledon to take his major singles titles to 21, has opted not to be vaccinated against COVID-19. He said on Thursday he could not fly to New York for the year's final Grand Slam.
Rafael Nadal said he would love to keep playing long enough for his son to remember him on court, though the 22-time Grand Slam champion concedes time is not on his side.
Nadal said he did not expect to go all the way at Melbourne Park
Rafael Nadal beat new world number one Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-3 in a rematch of their Australian Open clash to storm into the final of the ATP 500 event in Acapulco on Friday.
Images from Day 1 of the 2023 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Monday.
Images from the French Open quarter-final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros on Tuesday.
'He told me that (I had) a great run, and I told him again, 'bravo'.'
Nadal has traditionally started his French Open campaigns with at least one claycourt title under his belt but this year got to the French capital empty-handed.
A defiant Rafael Nadal won an all-Spanish clash of the generations taming teenager Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to stretch his winning run to 20 matches on Saturday and clinch a place in the Indian Wells final. He will take on American Taylor Fritz in Sunday's championship in the California desert where a victory would see the 35-year-old equal Novak Djokovic's record of 37 ATP Masters 1000 titles.
Top seed Rafael Nadal beat American qualifier Maxime Cressy 7-6(6), 6-3 to win the Melbourne Summer Set 1 ATP 250 event and build up momentum heading into the Australian Open.
'I think I played a great first set, one of the best of the claycourt season, in my opinion. No mistakes, high intensity, winners, playing long'.
Jannik Sinner spearheaded Italy's charge towards a second successive Davis Cup title with a 2-0 victory over the Netherlands in the final at the southern Spanish city of Malaga on Sunday.
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