Mixed emotions for nadal. in 2022, he won his 21st major title in melbourne. a year later, the pain of defeat. a hip injury halted his title defence and put his career in doubt. does nadal believe he can win titles again? for me my goal is still may be be donein for me my goal is still may be be done in a couple of months try to play again for that for now, if i am competitive fantastic but it is something for me is going to be a big surprise if i am competitive and another level. he s currently ranked 672 in the world. at the australian open nadal will be unseeded but on this evidence not unfancied. stuart pollitt, bbc news earlier in auckland emma raducanu said she was grateful not to be bed ridden and in a wheelchair after her three set win over elena gabriela ruse in her first match since ankle and wrist surgeries. our tennis correspondent russell fuller told me
Things considered, and those things are nearly nine months away from the tour and three minor operations, one on each hand and one on a left ankle. it took 2.5 hours to beat elena gabriela ruse, but emma raducanu came through very strongly in the end. and that deciding set she played really well to move 5 2 in front, then she dropped her serve and had a couple of match points that were saved, then she dropped her serve again. that is no huge surprise because after being off the tour, it is hard to close out match close out matches. but she took the deciding set 7 5. we will see where her story goes next, but it was certainly a very good start after so long away. was certainly a very good start after so long away. after nearly a year away from tennis, rafa nadal marked his singles return with a very convincing win over dominic thiem in the first round of the brisbane international. nadal hadn t competed since suffering a hip injury at the 2023 australian open last
Cheering and play i think at a very positive level, on the first day, i think it s something that will probably make us feel proud. an impressive comeback performance too from emma raducanu. after 259 days out with injury, she won her first round match in auckland against the romanian elena gabriela ruse by three sets in a match that lasted two and a half hours. our tennis correspondent russell fuller was watching. she won a very tight match after twice serving for it at 5 2 in the third set, only to have her serve broken twice, she managed to win that deciding set 7 5 and she was on court 2.5 hours and she served pretty well for much of the match and it was a very encouraging return for a woman who used to be the british number one but returns at 301 in the world rankings after nearly nine months out.