The Spanish legend eased past Flavio Cobolli in the opening round of the tournament on Tuesday (16.04.24) and is pleased to have overcome adversity once again to triumph in his first match on the surface for almost two years.

Nadal said: "I have done that [come back from challenges] a lot of times in my career; it’s true that it gets more difficult when you are at an advanced age.

"I am going through tough moments, but at the same time, when I am able to be on the tour for a few days and practice with the guys and then compete a little bit, means a lot to me.

"It’s still enjoyable enough for me to keep doing it."

Nadal has been plagued by injuries over the past two years and admitted last month that he was doing his best to maintain realistic aims in terms of his return to fitness.

The 22-time Grand Slam winner said: "It doesn't matter whether I'm optimistic or not; I'm a realist. For the last year and a half or two it's been impossible for me to compete, so the first objective is to try to compete and I'm going day by day.

"If I had to be optimistic or negative, I probably wouldn't even be trying. It's a long time, I have a lot of years and a very long career behind me. At the end of the day I try not to be one thing or the other, I try to go day by day, do the work I have to do to give myself opportunities and we'll see how long we can try."