Rafael Nadal walks out to loud cheers in return to action at Brisbane International, leaves court all smiles despite doubles loss to begin season

Rafael Nadal walked out to play his first competitive match on his tennis return amidst loud cheers from spectators at the Pat Rafter Arena on Sunday, December 31, during Brisbane International 2024.

Nadal's comeback after nearly a year-long on-court absence saw him compete in a doubles tie at the ATP 250 event in Brisbane on New Year's Eve. He teamed up with compatriot Marc Lopez to take on Australia's Max Purcell and Jordon Thompson.

The Spaniard entered the court behind Lopez after chatting with him in the hallway before the game began. Nadal received a thunderous ovation from the stands as some of the fans pulled out their camera phones to record the moment of his long-awaited arrival.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion started the proceedings on a positive note by holding serve in the first game for his side. The Australian duo, however, took a lead by breaking their opponent's serve in the fifth game and went on to secure the opening set 6-4.

A similar story unfolded in the second set as Purcell and Thompson broke the deadlock by breaking Lopez's serve in the seventh game. The Aussies soon closed out the match by taking the second set 6-4, which ended Nadal's first professional outing on return.

The Spaniard departed from the court waving at his fans while smiling all along. The videos of Nadal's entrance and exit can be watched below.

The 37-year-old is slated to lock horns with Dominic Thiem on Monday, January 1. Nadal would take the court with the aim of extending his 9-6 lead over the latter in the head-to-head count.

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Rafael Nadal: "I had the determination to keep going"

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal recently admitted to harboring thoughts about quitting tennis for good during his year-long absence from the court, nursing a hip injury. During the pre-tournament press conference in Brisbane, he said:

"If I thought about retirement during that period of time? Of course, yes. I had to go through a lot of things to be back. In the low moments, it's 100 percent human that you put yourself in a position to say, 'Okay, makes sense all the things I have to do to be back at 37 years old', knowing probably you will be back and you will not be healthy enough to compete the way that you wanted to compete."

The Spaniard added that he had the determination to keep going.

"Something of that I was asking to myself. At some point, I decided to keep going. I had the determination to keep going," Nadal said.