Never Dies, Rafa Nadal: beats 7-6 6-3 Alex de Minaur, taking revenge on what happened about ten days ago Barcelona, and reaches the third round of Masters 1000 of Madrid, where the opponent will respond to the name of Pedro Cachin. Once again Rafa he demonstrated that he has determination, strength and energy to spend: de Minaur compared to the previous match he was almost surprised, unable to remedy the left-handed’s extraordinary day of streak Manacor, carried away by the heat of Caja Magica.
Like in the good old days: Rafa dominates and the crowd gets excited
To the “Manolo Santana” everyone was rooting for the Majorcan. Who responded with one really exciting experience, of those that have delighted the Madrid public for years. A Rafa found in multiple aspects: al service, where he hammered like in the good old days. But also in prolonged exchangesthose that had been a bit of an Achilles’ heel in previous releases.
Compared to the formality of debuting with Blanch, this had every appearance of already being there a challenge to take with a pinch of salt: Nadal he hadn’t won against a top 20 player in the world for a year and a half, and on clay for 23 months (since the final of Roland Garros 2022 against Casper Ruud). Moreover: Nadal avoided losing for the second time in the space of two weeks against the same player (precisely de Minaur), something that hasn’t happened since 2011, when it was Djokovic to overtake the Spaniard twice.
Who started off like a rocket in the first set, breaking the Tasmanian in the second game only to then grant the favor again, also due to an error of judgment (he stops for a moment evaluating an out ball, but then loses the point and the chair umpire does not agree, as per the rules, to replay the rally). On serve, both demonstrate their ability to hold their own, so the epilogue to the tiebreak is inevitable: Rafa sprints to 6-2but squanders the huge endowment of 4 set points, only to then close at fifth available.
Rafa, time has stopped: the “Santana” explodes
In the second set the battle immediately becomes heated: the “Santana” is everything for Rafa (there are also the Carrot Boyscome to see Sinner), who in the second game once again snatches the serve from Demon. Which drops in shots and intensity, almost revealing a bit of subservience towards the expert home player. Which he can no longer collect break pointswithout however granting any more to the rival, who inevitably progressively exits the game until having to surrender to the greater pragmatism of a Rafa shined again like in its golden days.
A breath of vintage which inflames the Madrid public, happy to have found their favorite again. “I’m really surprised, because they have been complicated months and all the efforts I made to be here are only known to me. However, it was worth trying again to experience these emotions. I’m happy for the victorymore so for how it arrived and how long I was able to resist.”
