Rafael Nadal wins first tour-level match in 200 days

ROME: Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal has won his first tour-level match playing for the 10th Internazionali BNL d’Italia tournament happening in Italy.

Nadal won the game by straight two sets against fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta in 73 minutes.

The 33-year old is playing his first match since 29th February, when he lifted the 85th tour-level trophy of his career at the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por in Acapulco. “It’s good to be back on the Tour. I miss the crowds. I played a good match, maybe he was a little bit tired after all his matches in New York. It was a perfect start for me. It was solid, [and I hit] good shots on the forehand and backhand. I didn’t expect to play that well,” Nadal said.

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The Spanish player aims to break the record of World No. 1 and four-time former Rome champion Novak Djokovic by attempting to win a record 36th ATP Masters 1000 title this year. Nadal will next play No. 13 seed Milos Raonic or Dusan Lajovic in the third round.

Nadal, who has won 19 grand slam titles, has been ranked in the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings for 782 consecutive weeks.