Barcelona Open: Nadal wins first match on clay in 22 months

Rafael Nadal made a winning return on Tuesday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, where the 12-time champion on defeated Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-2, 6-3 to reach second round

The 37-year-old Spaniard who is playing just his second tournament of the year and first since January, when he made the quarter-finals of the ATP 250 in Brisbane won 78 per cent of his first-serve points (25/32) and sealed his first meeting with Cobolli after one hour, 25 minutes.

“Every time it is more difficult and especially when you are at an advanced age, it makes things even tougher,” Nadal said of his return. “I’m going through tough moments but at the same time, when I’m able to be on Tour for a few days and practise with the guys and then be able to compete a little bit, it means a lot to me. Still enjoyable enough to keep going. I’m happy to start with a victory without a doubt.”

The 92-time tour-level titlist who with the win clinch his first victory on clay since June 22 will next meet fourth seed Alex de Minaur, whom Nadal leads 3-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Nadal boasts a 67-4 match record at the ATP 500, where he first won the title in 2005 and most recently triumphed in 2021. This week marks his 17th appearance in Barcelona.

Elsewhere, Brandon Nakashima sunk World No. 8 Andrey Rublev 6-4. 7-6(6) at the ATP 500 for the second Top 10 win of his career, and his first on clay.

Nakashima delivered a rock-solid serving performance to seal a one-hour, 53-minute win the No. 87 in the PIF ATP Rankings won 80 per cent (33/41) of points behind his first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Nakashima, who reached a quarter-final on clay in Houston two weeks ago, will take on 13th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry or qualifier Nick Hardt in the third round in Spain.