Rafa Nadal’s run in Madrid ends in the round of 16: Lehecka wins 6-4, 7-5. Victory with difficulty for Alcaraz who overcomes Struff in the remake of the 2023 final. Medvedev beats Bublik in two sets and for the first time in his career reaches the quarterfinals at the Caja Magica. Rublev also goes through, Sascha Zverev surprisingly out. The Madrid Open is live on Sky Sports and streaming on NOW
SINNER BEATS KHACHANOV: THE HIGHLIGHTS
Rafa Nadal it stops at eighths of the Madrid Masters. After three consecutive victories, the Majorcan lost to the Czech Jiri Lehecka 7-5, 6-4, in all likelihood definitively dismissing the king of red from Manolo Santana. The fight with Cachin just 24 hours earlier made itself felt in Rafa’s legs, who however gave further signs of improvement in view of his two great Parisian goals, Roland Garros and the Olympics. Lehecka will return to action on Thursday against Medvedev in his second 1000 quarter of his career, an injection of points for Rafa (+100 and climb of at least 200 positions in the ranking) and trust in view of the next events, where it will be the nightmare of the ‘big names’ in the first rounds. And it’s deserved ovation of Manolo Santana to his ‘king’.
Alcaraz suffers for 3 hours with Struff: now Rublev is there
From Madrid to Madrid. Like a year ago in the final, Carlos Alcaraz beats Jan-Lennard Struff at the Spanish Masters 1000. This time, however, the title was not at stake, but a place in the quarterfinals at the Caja Magica. However, the match was equally close, resolved by n. 3 in the world only in the tiebreak of the third set after three hours of play. A point-to-point match, in which Struff played on par with the Murcian, canceling four match points in the decisive set and also recovering a break deficit. The tiebreak, however, was fatal, resolved by Alcaraz with a perfect lob at 5-4 and a passer between his opponent’s feet on match point. The Spaniard thus reaches 14 consecutive victories in Madrid and on Wednesday he will return to the field for the quarter-final against Andrey Rublev. The Russian, in his first quarter-final of the season in a Masters 1000, beat Tallon Griekspoor in straight sets (6-2, 6-4) at the end of a perfect match, which lasted an hour.
Medvedev beats Bublik, Zverev out
First time in his career in the quarterfinals in Madrid, however, for Daniil Medvedev. The Russian, who had never progressed beyond the round of 16 at the Caja Magica, beat the Kazakh Alexander in two sets Bublik: 7-6, 6-4 the final score in one hour and 44 minutes. A difficult match for the Russian only in the first set, in which he overcame a break deficit. Then the monologue with the tiebreak won clearly (it ended 7-3, but he was ahead 6-0) and the second set addressed with the two break leads at the start. The surprise, however, is Sascha’s knockout Zverev. Twice champion at the Caja Magica, the German lost to the no. seed. 21 Francisco Cerundolo in two sets (6-3, 6-4). The 25-year-old from Buenos Aires, who had never won a match on Spanish soil before this year, becomes the first Argentine to reach the quarterfinals in Madrid since Juan Martin Del Potro in 2012.
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Sinner beats Khachanov in 3 sets: quarterfinals in Madrid
ATP Madrid, the results of the round of 16
- [7] Rublev – [24] Griekspoor (Ned) 6-2, 6-4
- [3] Medvedev – [17] Bublik (Kaz) 7-6(3), 6-4
- [12] Fritz (USA)–[8] Hurkacz (Pol) 7-6, 6-4
- [21] Cerundolo (Arg) – [4] Zverev (Ger) 6-3, 6-4
- [2] Alcaraz (Esp) –[23] Struff (Ger) – 6-3, 6-7, 7-6
- Auger Aliassime (Can) – [5] Ruud (North) 6-4, 7-5
- [30] Lehecka (Cze)–[PR] Nadal (Esp) 7-5, 6-4
The quarter table
- Alcaraz – Rublev
- Fritz – Cerundolo
- Sinner – Auger-Aliassime
- Medvedev – Lehecka
