Nadal loses to De Minaur in second round at Barcelona. Spaniard had returned from injury layoff
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Rafael Nadal’s first tournament since January lasted only two matches with the Spaniard losing 7-5, 6-1 to Alex de Minaur at the clay-court Barcelona Open on Wednesday.
Nadal, back from an injury layoff, looked like his old self for brief moments in the second-round match but couldn’t keep up with the 11th-ranked De Minaur.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion had comfortably defeated 62nd-ranked Flavio Cobolli in straight sets in the first round on Tuesday in what was his first competitive match in more than three months.
Nadal again looked injury-free on Wednesday but was never in control against the in-form De Minaur, who picked up his second career win over Nadal.
It was only his fifth defeat at the Barcelona Open, a tournament he has won a record 12 times.
Nadal is returning from yet another injury layoff and hadn’t played since an exhibition match against Carlos Alcaraz in March. Before this week, he had played only three competitive matches this year — all in Brisbane in January — before skipping the Australian Open.
Related articles
Baby not on board! Mother with three
A new mother is leaving shame notes on the cars of drivers who park on the pavement and block her pr2024-04-18International flight launched between Karachi, Islamabad, Beijing
A passenger plane of SereneAir lands at Beijing Daxing International Airport on Nov. 19, 2023. (Phot2024-04-18Nadal beats Djokovic in straight sets to win 13th French Open title
Rafael Nadal of Spain hits a return during the men's singles final match against Novak Djokovic of S2024-04-18- More and more countries and regions have rolled out preferential measures to tap into the recovering2024-04-18
Things to know as courts and legislatures act on transgender kids’ rights
Three court rulings across the U.S. this week delved into laws restricting the rights of transgender2024-04-18- Malaysia's new visa-free policy for Chinese travelers is a positive response to China's announcement2024-04-18
atest comment