Rafael Nadal didn’t convert three match factors as he fell to a quarter-final defeat in opposition to Australian Jordan Thompson on the Brisbane Worldwide.
Nadal, 37, went near sealing a straight-set victory however misplaced 5-7 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 to 29-year-old Thompson.
It was Nadal’s third match since returning to motion after nearly a yr out with a hip damage.
Thompson will face world quantity 14 Grigor Dimitrov within the semi-finals on Saturday.
After wins over Dominic Thiem and Jason Kubler earlier this week, Nadal confronted by far his hardest take a look at but of his comeback in opposition to Thompson, ranked fifty fifth on the earth.
Making his return to the tour earlier than the Australian Open, which he has gained twice, Nadal dropped serve halfway by the primary set solely to reply with a break of his personal instantly afterwards, earlier than accelerating away to take the opener.
Nadal, a 22-time Grand Slam winner, has fallen away to 672nd within the rankings throughout his interval on the sidelines.
The previous world primary could discover loads of positives from a tricky exercise, however he’ll know he ought to have chalked up one other win. Possibilities to shut out the match got here his approach within the tie-break, however Thompson clung on to power a deciding set.
Momentum was with the house participant and he quickly broke the Nadal serve within the third set, with the veteran Spaniard this time proving unable to get better.
Bulgarian Dimitrov, who eradicated Andy Murray within the first spherical, will face Thompson within the semi-finals following a 6-1 6-4 quarter-final victory over Australian Rinky Hijikata.
The opposite semi-final on Saturday will see world quantity eight Holger Rune face Russian Roman Safiullin, after their respective quarter-final wins in opposition to James Duckworth and Matteo Arnaldi.