GENOVA, September 7, 2016

While Pablo Andújar made his comeback to the tennis tour after an injury at the Copa Sevilla on Monday night, another Spaniard in person of Tommy Robredo also returned to the courts this week.

The 34-year-old from Hostalric had been sidelined since February with an elbow injury. Robredo played his last match at the ATP 500 event in Dubai, losing to Novak Djokovic in straight sets. The former world number five underwent surgery in April.

Hoy empezamos de nuevo. La operación ha ido muy bien! pic.twitter.com/nmnyZVZvG9

— Tommy Robredo (@TRobredo) 27. April 2016

Although he did not meet his previous goal to play at the US Open, the current world number 187 appeared in his only fifth tournament of the season at the €106,500 AON Open Challenger in Genova. On Tuesday evening, Robredo lost a close opening match to number five seed Teymuraz Gabashvili in two tie-breaks 7-3, 11-9. The encounter lasted more than two hours.

For Robredo, however, it was arguably more important to see that he is ready to compete again. “I am happy to be back after a couple of long and hard months. I enjoy being on the court again. Thanks to all the people, who supported me through this time,” Robredo stated on Instagram.