Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal is riding high into the new year. Not only did Rafa finally return to the official tour this month, but he also won his first tournament.

Nadal won the Melbourne Summer Set in a final match against impressive qualifier, Maxime Cressy, from the United States. In fact, he won in straight sets, with a final score of 7(8)-6(6), 6-3. Now, the Spaniard is all set to compete at the Australian Open, which begins next week.

Rafael Nadal practices with Diego Schwartzman

As the first Grand Slam of the season approaches, Rafael Nadal is hard at work, as he always is. Today, he practiced with Argentinian World No. 13 Diego Schwartzman.

The Argentinian took to Twitter to post a photo of himself sitting next to Rafael Nadal after their practice session. Moreover, even Rafa himself reposted the same photo. In fact, he had some really kind words to go with it, too.

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“Practice earlier today with @dieschwartzman and his team,” Nadal’s Facebook and Instagram story read. Then, he thanked Schwartzman for their time spent together, and wrote, “Thanks Peque,” using Schwartzman’s nickname, which means the ‘little one’.

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Furthermore, even the official ATP page joined in on the fun. They posted Rafael Nadal and Diego Schwartzman sitting next to each other, asking people if they wanted an invitation for their practice session.

Nadal is happy, despite not being in his ideal position

When asked about whether he is happy with where he is in his post-match presser, Nadal had much to say. The Spaniard opened up on what his ideal state is.

Rafael Nadal is not quite where he wants to be, which is to be absolutely healthy throughout the year. The 20-time Grand Slam champion expressed regret over having to pull out of the tour for months on end, only to return and see so many of his competitors ahead of him in terms of points and wins.

Thus, he wishes to be completely healthy throughout the year this time around. Nevertheless, he expressed that he is happy where he is. After all, he did win the first ATP tournament of the year, despite not having played on the tour for months.

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