The awaited comeback of Rafael Nadal

He’s back!

Being a Rafael Nadal fan has never been easy. From wanting him to be an all-surface player, to dealing with his constant injuries, a Rafael Nadal fan undergoes all the stress that can easily be considered unhealthy.

Rafa was expected to come back on court in Qatar but that did not happen. Then he withdrew from the Australian Open, which was another blow to his fans. Not only his fans, but tennis fans in general have missed him and the long battles on the tennis courts of Melbourne. When he decided to make a comeback, he chose to do so in an ATP 250 level tournament – Viña del Mar, Chile and, of course, on his favorite surface – clay. In fact, the clay surface helps his knees.

Playing in both singles and doubles event of the tournament with Juan Monaco as his partner, all eyes of the tennis world are set on him. Some are following his comeback to see if he still has it in him, some want to see how this will affect the other players, and some – his fans – are just happy to see him back on court holding a racquet.

Rafa is aware of all these expectations. The pain in his knees hasn’t completely vanished and that is something that probably he will have to live with all his life. He has been insisting in all the interviews that he is just happy to be back on court and doesn’t look for miraculous things to happen there. It is going to be a slow process to get back to the highest level.

Rafa and Monaco played their first doubles match against the Czech pair of Frantisek Cermak and Lukas Dlouhy. They won it 6-3, 6-2. So how was Rafa’s performance?

Firstly, if you want to see Rafa smiling on a tennis court very often, away from his tenacious game face, it has to be in a doubles match. He is always relaxed in a doubles match, given that the stakes involved are not very high. Secondly, it is plainly evident that the time he takes to serve is very less compared to that of a singles match. The same was the case here.

His net play was great and some glimpses of those impossible angles were seen as well. He seemed to enjoy himself on the court and was happy with the win. Nothing major apart from that in the match. We will have to wait for his singles match to finish before we make a comment on his form.

Everyone expects him to win the title here, but what is more important is that he is back on court after a little more than seven long months. It is going to take time, but for now all the tennis lovers, irrespective of being Rafa fans or not, are waiting with bated breath for some more excitement.

And here’s finishing this piece by a few tweets from various personalities who were following Rafa’s first match after the long injury break.

“I’d forgotten how electric a presence Rafael #Nadal is on a tennis court. Longer he can stick around, the better. #tennis” – David Law, British journalist.

” Just out in the garden setting up my new satellite dish so I can watch Nadal’s return in Chile tonight…

So far all I have picked up is something from the Moon….In all seriousness, there will surely be an online stream I hope.

Never has there been so much interest in a doubles match during the Golden Swing. Rafael Nadal is back.” – Stu Fraser, Sports journalist, Sky news, BBC Radio etc

“Thought the tennis world had missed Rafael Nadal a really, really lot. I was wrong–he has been missed much more than that. #Twitteroverload “ – Tom Perrota, Tennis writer.