Rafael Nadal beaten in first match back since injury in Brisbane doubles, Andy Murray also beaten

Rafael Nadal was beaten in straight sets in his first match back since injury in a doubles clash with Marc Lopez in the Brisbane International.

Nadal hadn’t played since suffering a hip injury nearly a year ago in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open when he was beaten by Mackenzie McDonald.

Playing alongside Lopez there were glimpses of the old Nadal magic, including a couple of sumptuous backhands and some fine net play.

However, Nadal and Lopez couldn’t find a way past Australian duo Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson and they eventually fell to a 6-4 6-4 defeat.

And the Spaniard’s time in Brisbane isn’t over yet, with Nadal drawn to play against Dominic Thiem in the singles in a hotly anticipated first-round match.

Earlier in the day, Nadal’s two practice partners Andy Murray and Holger Rune showed some good stuff as a doubles pairing but ultimately succumbed to a tie-break defeat to Aslan Karatsev and Roman Safiullin.

Murray and Rune took the opening set, having taken the first game of the match with a break.

The second set produced the same pattern with Karatsev and Safiullin taking their break to force a match-deciding tie-break.

That went 10-5 in their favour, breaking Murray and Rune in each of their last four service points.