Tennis: Nadal denied title in comeback tournament

Spain’s Rafael Nadal. AP FILE PHOTO

VINA DEL MAR, Chile – Horacio Zeballos denied Rafael Nadal a fairytale finish to his comeback tournament on Sunday, beating Spain’s clay court king 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 in the ATP tournament here.

Nadal was playing his first tournament in more than seven months, returning to action for the first time since a surprise second-round exit at Wimbledon in June.

Since then he had been sidelined by a knee injury, with his return this year further delayed by a virus.