Rafael Nadal earns ‘important’ Brisbane win over Kubler as return continues – The Guardian

Rafael Nadal continued his impressive return from injury with a dominant win over Jason Kubler at the Brisbane International.

The 22-time grand slam champion played his first singles match for nearly a year following a hip injury in the opening round against Dominic Thiem and built on that performance by seeing off Kubler 6-1, 6-2. Nadal, who shrugged off a time violation in the second set for taking too long to change his clothes, told reporters in Brisbane: “It has been a positive match, without a doubt.