"When you come back from a period of not playing, it's tough, I think I have capacity to accept things are not going to be perfect" - Rafael Nadal after 2R win in Madrid

Rafael Nadal's comeback after a month-long injury lay-off got off to the best start possible, as the Spaniard defeated Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1, 7-6(4) in the second round of the 2022 Madrid Masters.

Fans waited with bated breath to see how the Mallorcan would fare on his return to action and his display against the Serb put any doubts over his fitness to rest. The World No. 4 produced a dominant display to advance to the last 16 in the Spanish capital.

Speaking at his press conference after the triumph, the former World No. 1 remarked that he too had doubts at the beginning. The Spaniard said it is very tough to find the rhythm after a prolonged absence, but pointed out that he was humble enough to make allowances for imperfections during this period.

Nadal asserted that he was only going to focus on putting in the hard work and fix any issues instead of obsessing over them.

"When you come back from a period of not playing, it's tough. For me, it's tough too. It's tricky and difficult. I think I have a good capacity to be humble enough to accept that things are not going to be perfect. From there onwards, you have to build your game," Nadal said. "You have to build things from daily work, you have to know and accept that there are going to be errors and just look forward with excitement and determination."

The 35-year-old, who is no stranger to injury lay-offs, reckoned he was fortunate enough to have the ability to bounce back immediately from long periods on the sidelines.

The Spaniard was of the opinion that the result of the first match of a return could make or break a comeback. For that very reason, he considered his victory over Kecmanovic to be vital to how his clay season will shape up in the coming months.

"I believe that it's as hard for me as for the rest of the players, but it's true that because of some reason during my career I have been able to come back from really complicated moments with good results and with good feelings. If you come back and if you win the first match, then you're able to get your rhythm back again," Nadal said.

"Whereas if you come back and you lose and you lose, you end up in a circle of losing that you don't get the rhythm of matches. So the first matches are key. They have a really big value, and for me today's victory is really important for that reason," he added.

"I was able to play against an opponent that was playing really well in these last months, so it's a really good victory" - Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal was glad to have scored his first victory on comeback over an in-form player like Kecmanovic

During the press conference, Rafael Nadal also revealed that he had not trained as much as he would have wanted to prior to his opening encounter in Madrid. Although it stung him a little to admit that, the Mallorcan remarked that it was more important to be truthful to oneself about the state of one's preparation.

"I leave the match very, very happy. You have to be sincere with yourself whenever you can. You have to be truthful to yourself. My preparation has not existed. You cannot expect great things at the beginning, because before coming here, I had trained very, very little," Nadal said. "It's been a roller coaster. I have had better days, worse days. It's logical."

Beating a player like Miomir Kecmanovic, who has been one of the top performers of the season so far, gave the Mallorcan all the more reason to be proud of himself. The World No. 4 added that his ultimate goal was simply to regain full fitness as soon as possible, and that he was excited to see how he can go about it in the coming matches.

"Today I was able to play an hour and 55 minutes against an opponent that was playing really well in these last months, so a really good victory, a lot of value to it," Nadal said. "So it helps me a lot to reach my final goal, which is to recover my previous health and previous fitness. I'm very excited about it."