Melbourne: Rafael Nadal defeated Ricardas Berankis in his opening match at the Melbourne Summer Set on Thursday. With the win, Nadal advanced to the quarterfinals.
The Spaniard was playing his first official match since ending his season in August due to a foot injury.
Earlier, former French Open champion Iga Swiatek advanced to the Adelaide International quarterfinals with a surprisingly easy 6-1, 6-2 win over 2021 U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez.
The fifth-seeded Swiatek joined top-ranked Ash Barty in the last eight and will play two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka, who beat Priscilla Hon 6-3, 7-5.
Barty will play the winner of Thursday night’s match between her fellow Australian Ajla Tomljaovic and 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
Seventh-seeded Elina Rybakina and American Shelby Rogers, who beat No. 3 seed Maria Sakkari, have already set up a quarterfinal match.
The other last-eight matchup will feature Kaja Juvan, who upset No. 2-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the second round, against Misaki Doi or Anastasia Gasanova.
The Adelaide and Melbourne tournaments are two of six tune-up events being staged in Australia this week ahead of the season-opening major at Melbourne Park starting January 17.
