Nadal defeats Thiem, Djokovic continues to rise

After nearly a year of injury, Rafael Nadal returned to the singles match against Dominic Thiem in the first round of the ATP 250 Brisbane International 2024 in Australia. In both of their most recent meetings in 2020, Nadal lost to Thiem.

Nadal defeated Thiem in the opening round of the 2024 Brisbane International (Photo: AP).

However, in the match on the afternoon of January 2, Nadal showed impressive performance. The two players struggled in the first games, the turning point only happened in the decisive game 12. Nadal had 3 break opportunities and the Spaniard took advantage of them to close the match with a 7-5 victory.

In the second set, Nadal quickly broke Thiem's first serve. Then, the "King of Clay" got another break in game 6 before winning 6-1. Nadal won the ticket to the second round after an hour and 30 minutes and his opponent was the winner of the match between Aslan Karatsev and Jason Kubler.

Novak Djokovic is currently playing for Serbia at the 2024 United Cup in Australia. On the evening of January 2, Djokovic played a singles match against Lehecka of the Czech Republic. In the first set, Novak Djokovic quickly showed his class and easily won with a score of 6-1.

In the second set, Djokovic had an early break in game 3 but Lehecka suddenly fought back strongly. The Czech player had two break points in a row and took a 5-3 lead, but then Djokovic regained the break and tied the match at 5-5.

Djokovic won the second singles match at the 2024 United Cup (Photo: AP).

The two players entered the tie-break, Lehecka once again had the chance to end the set in hand and this time the Czech player did not miss the opportunity to win 7-6. However, in set 3, Djokovic completely dominated when he quickly won 2 breaks to lead 5-0 and ended set 3 with a score of 6-1.

Before defeating Lehecka, Djokovic defeated Zhang Zhizhen two days ago and helped Serbia beat China 2-1. After Djokovic defeated Lehecka, Olga Danilovic/Hamad Medjedovic defeated Miriam Kolodziejova/Petr Nouza in the mixed doubles with a score of 4-6, 7-5, 7-6, helping Serbia beat the Czech Republic 2-1.

At the end of the 2024 United Cup group stage, Serbia topped Group E and will meet host Australia in the quarterfinals.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/nadal-danh-bai-thiem-djokovic-tiep-da-thang-hoa-20240102224552506.htm