Rafael Nadaleven if not in the best form, is still the usual fighter with a big heart and eeliminates Pedro Cachin 6-1 6-7 6-3, flying to the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 in Madrid. Bad match from a strictly technical point of view, with the Spaniard lacking aces and with a great missed pass with the forehand at the opening of the second set, but the legs are there and the determination is always the same.
The first set goes by quickly: Nadal opens with a break in the first set, Cachin is obviously contracted and unable to play, he grants another break and involuntarily launches the sprint to the Spaniard who goes on to close 6-1.
The second partial is decidedly more difficult, because Nadal immediately gets serve broken in the first game and the defeat is repeated in the next round of service: Nadal’s forehand doesn’t turn and Cachin escapes at 4-1. It is known, however, that Nadal is never beaten and immediately recovers one of the two breaks, tries again in the opponent’s next serve and fails. Cachin is therefore ahead 5-4 and serve, but when he feels the advantage he trembles: despite the three set points, the second counterbreak from the Majorcan arrives and everything is then decided in the tiebreak (in the middle another break from Cachin and counterbreak from Nadal). Here, however, Rafa doesn’t play well, the Argentine is more solid and closes the game at 5.
We are therefore at 1-1 and again Nadal tries to escape, immediately obtaining the break and looking for the coup of 3-0, when he is ahead 0-30. He doesn’t succeed, Cachin is confident and wins the game and makes the counterbreak. We are therefore 2-2 and again Nadal breaks his opponent’s serve, he no longer concedes anything on his own serve and at 5-3 Cachin goes to serve to save himself.
Match point arrives and after 3 hours and 4 minutes of play Nadal pulls out everything he still has, forcing Cachin to make mistakes and giving him the victory.
The left-handed player from Manacor therefore reaches the round of 16, where he will face Jiri Lehecka.
Nadal: “If I’m not competitive, there’s no point in playing”
