Two-hundred and twenty-two days. That’s how long the wait lasted. At last, the wait is over.
Rafael Nadal will be back on the singles court for the first time since Wimbledon when he headlines second-round action at the VTR Open on Wednesday evening. His opening match comes in the form of a first-ever meeting with Federico Delbonis.
Delbonis won’t necessarily become a household name like Lukas Rosol, who stunned Nadal in the second round at the All-England Club last summer. Still, this is by far the biggest occasion of the 22-year-old Argentine’s career. Delbonis registers at No. 128 in the world and he is 10-14 lifetime at the ATP level after getting past Guido Pella 2-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(1) on Tuesday.
Nadal, who has slipped behind countryman David Ferrer down to No. 5 in the world, is making his first career appearance in Vina del Mar. He played doubles on Tuesday with Juan Monaco and took out the second-seeded pair of Frantisek Cermak and Lukas Dlouhy 6-3, 6-2.
“In doubles the effort is always less taxing,” Nadal explained. “We will see how it goes in singles and how my physical condition is.”
If nothing else, the doubles performance was at least a positive sign. There is no reason to think the top seed won’t begin with a straight-set victory over Delbonis.
Pick: Nadal 6-3, 6-2
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