“I’m super happy to be back here in Australia one more time”: Nadal hints at final Australian Open after Draper win

Rafael Nadal battled past Jack Draper earlier today as the British youngster struggled with his fitness which left him unable to compete with Nadal for a good chunk of the match.

Draper secured the second set with some brilliant play but started to cramp in the 3rd set and that was a problem moving forward. He did manage a great comeback in the 3rd set but Nadal simply had more energy to finish off the match in style. In his post-match interview, Nadal reflect on last year:

"Last year was without a doubt one of the most emotional tournaments of my tennis career. I’m super happy to be back here in Australia one more time. I know it’s my 19th season on the professional Tour. I’m very excited about this new beginning, just super happy to be back here in Rod Laver Arena with a victory that I needed. The last couple of months haven’t been easy for me, but hopefully this victory is going to help me."

Nadal didn't play a spectacular match but he did good enough to win a first round of a major. He called the match a positive when breaking it down after:

“If we put [today’s match] in the perspective of all that I went through in the past six months, [it was] a very positive start. I played against one of the toughest opponents possible in the first round, being seeded. He is young, he has the power and I think he has a great future in front [of him]. We are going to see him playing a lot of years here, having very good results.”