Rafael Nadal made a winning return to tennis with a first-round victory over James Duckworth at the Australian Open.

The Spaniard had not played a match since retiring during his US Open semi-final against Juan Martin del Potro last August with knee pain.

After an abdominal problem and ankle surgery ended his season early, he pulled out of the tournament in Brisbane last week with a minor thigh strain.

Nadal did not have things all his own way against Australian wild card Duckworth, going a break down early in the second set and then being broken serving for the match, but he came through 6-4, 6-3, 7-5.

Nadal said in his on-court interview: 'It's not easy to come back after a lot of months, and especially against a player who's super aggressive.

'I'm very, very happy to be through.'

Fifth seed Kevin Anderson, who has been a grand slam finalist twice in the last five tournaments, avoided a second successive first-round exit here, beating Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.

Mail Online

BDST: 1210 HRS, JAN 14, 2019
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