Second day of the Masters1000 in Madrid, the second major event of the clay court season which will culminate with Roland Garros and the Paris Olympics. Although it’s not yet the seedings’ turn, there are interesting topics to explore at the top of the bracket.
Rafa Nadal’s return after two years will take place on the central court. The left-handed player from Manacor returns to play for the last time in the tournament that he has won four times in his career and will face the very young Darwin Blanch, born in 2007, in a match that will be the one with the widest age difference in the history of the Masters1000. Suffice it to say that the US wild card came to light when Rafa already had three Roland Garros and nine ‘1000’s under his belt.
For the Spanish champion, today will be a real test for the near future. Nadal announced in the press conference that he is not in the best condition and that, if he were to leave Roland Garros today, he would not take the field. But he also spoke of other objectives, with an eye towards Paris: Madrid is therefore to be understood as an appointment to calibrate oneself in view of the great, final goals of an extraordinary career.
Many Italians on the field. Lorenzo Sonego will be involved in the second match at the Arantxa Sanchez Stadium against Richard Gasquet, wonderful backhand to the last cartridges: the second round and the baptism in the championship are up for grabs Jannik Sinner tournament. Court 6 instead for Flavio Cobolli and Matteo Arnaldi: for them two insidious opponents like Alejandro Tabilo and Christopher O’Conner, not to be underestimated, the winners will face Nicolas Jarry and Daniil Medvedev respectively
