Rafael Nadal's Missed Opportunities Lead to Brisbane International Loss against Jordan Thompson

Rafael Nadal's return to singles competition after recovering from injury came to an exciting end as he was defeated by Australian Jordan Thompson in the quarterfinals at the Brisbane International on Friday. Nadal, who was playing in his first singles event in nearly a year, took the first set and even had three match points in the second set before Thompson staged a remarkable comeback to win 5-7 7-6 6-3 in a closely contested match.

The match went on for nearly three and a half hours, ending close to midnight in Brisbane. Thompson secured a thrilling victory with an epic 33-shot rally, much to the excitement of the dedicated home fans who stayed late into the evening. This marked Nadal's first quarterfinal appearance since Wimbledon in 2022, and he had previously faced Thompson in a doubles match on Sunday, where he emerged as the winner. However, Friday's victory was a much more demanding and exhausting ordeal for both players.

Thompson managed to get a break of serve at 3-3 in the first set but quickly lost his lead when Nadal broke back - first in the next game, and then again when Thompson hit a backhand into the net while serving to hold the set at 6-5.

Nadal plays a backhand against Thompson.

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The second set was equally tight as the first, but as the match went on, Nadal appeared to be getting closer to securing a spot in the final four. He had a chance to win the match at 5-4 and had two more opportunities during the tie-break.

Unfortunately, the former world No. 1 was unable to close out the match, hitting a forehand wide while leading 6-4 in the tie-break. Thompson then won the next three points, with the highlight being a remarkable lunging volley to pull ahead 7-6.

Thompson was energized by the support from the home crowd and managed to break Nadal's serve, giving him a 3-1 lead in the final set. Nadal, who had been dealing with injuries and recovering from hip surgery throughout 2023, took a brief medical timeout but appeared unaffected when he returned to the court.

The momentum continued to be in Thompson's favor, and the world No. 55 completed his comeback when Nadal sent a backhand long. He is set to face Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals of the Brisbane International on Saturday, and the winner of that match will go up against either Holger Rune or Roman Safiullin in the final.

Thompson celebrates winning match point against Nadal - his first victory against the Spaniard.

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Thompson expressed his joy about beating Rafa in Brisbane, especially since it was his first semifinal on a hard court. In his on-court interview, he stated, "I couldn't be happier." Nadal had won his first two singles matches against Dominic Thiem and Jason Kubler after a long injury layoff. He aims to win his 23rd grand slam title at the Australian Open, starting on January 14th.