The reception Novak received when he returned to Australia was positive.
The Serb was deported due to his Covid-19 vaccine status.
The three-year visa ban was lifted in November.
He and Canada's Vasek PospiSil were defeated on their return.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion was welcomed by cheers and chants of "Novak, Novak" as he made his way onto the court.
After the loss, the world number five stayed behind to sign autographs and take pictures with fans.
He will play Frenchman Constant Lestienne in the first round of the singles at the Australian Open warm-up event in Adelaide on Tuesday.
It is just one Grand Slam title shy of the men's record of 22 held by Nadal.
In the first round of the men's singles, British number three Jack Draper beat South Korea's Kwon Soon-woo in straight sets.
Canada's second seed and world number six Felix Auger-Aliassime was knocked out by Australia's Alexei Popyrin in the first round, while world number 11 Holger Rune was beaten by Japan's Nishioka.
The Covid-19 cases were rising fast and government rules required anyone entering the country to be vaccine free unless they had a valid exemption.
He claimed that he had obtained a medical exemption to defend his title without being vaccinations because he had just recovered from Covid.
After 10 days of legal argument, the government decided he didn't meet the requirements for entry, so his visa was canceled and he was banned from entering Australia for the rest of his life.
In the build-up to the tournament, crowds gathered outside of his hotel to protest against his deportation.
The visa ban was overturned in November by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, who said he was very happy to hear about it.
Nadal's poor start to the year continued as he lost his second match at the United Cup to Alex de Minaur in what was his final match before the Australian Open.
The 36-year-old world number two was beaten earlier in the first mixed team-tournament by Norrie as Great Britain beat his Spain team.
I'm not too worried about it. There was a chance to lose the match.
There is more to be done." I feel like I can do it.
Two weeks before the start, he said. I can't say that the situation is perfect, but I can say that it's not very bad.
I was playing well for a short time. I needed more time to arrive.
Neither Australia nor Spain were able to progress from the group stage of the United Cup after De Minaur's win gave Australia a one point lead over Spain.
The play-off for the semi-finals will take place after the US beat Germany in the City Final.
In that win, Taylor Fritz and Madison Keys both won.
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