Nadal makes winning return in Chile

VINA DEL MAR, CHILE – FEBRUARY 06: Rafael Nadal of Spain talks to Federico Delbonis of Argentina during the 2013 Open VTR

Tennis is a habit and the many months away from the game did not seem to rob Rafael Nadal of his well cultivated ways. The Spaniard, who has been out due to injury since his shocking second round loss at Wimbledon last year, won his second match in two days to advance to the third round of the VTR Open in Vina Del Mar. Nadal clinched a facile 6-3, 6-2 victory over Argentine Federico Delbonis in his first competitive singles match since June last year. On Tuesday, Nadal combined with Juan Monaco to oust the second seeded Lukas Dlouhy and Frantisek Cermak with an identical 3 & 2 victory in the first round of the doubles event.

The Spaniard made a jittery start, winning just a solitary point on his serve in the very first game, and Delbonis took advantage to consolidate for a 2-0 lead. But the Spaniard settled down quickly to put the 128th ranked Argentine in his place, breaking serve in the fourth game to restore parity.

The two fought tooth and nail in the eighth game, before Nadal snagged another break at the end of a lengthy 17 point game that saw four break points for the Spaniard. Nadal has always been home on clay and having come through a testy game, he held confidently in the next game to seal the first set in 47 minutes.

Riding the momentum, Nadal crushed the 22-year-old Argentine’s spirit by taking the first four games in the second set, before cruising to an easy victory in 88 minutes. Nadal converted 4 of his 11 break point opportunities and lost only three points off his second serve to ensure that his opponent barely had a sniff after that initial stutter.

“I’m happy to play a singles match after so long,” Nadal said. “For now the most important thing is to spend as much time as possible on court. This victory allows me to play at least two more matches, singles and doubles. To practise is one thing but to play is totally different. In a real match you can’t control your body as you do in practice.”

Nadal will take on the winner between Albert Montanes and Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the next round. Meanwhile, the second seed and defending champion Juan Monaco fell at the first hurdle at the hands of Guillaume Rufin losing 6-7(3), 4-6 in an earlier match.