ATP Madrid: Nadal takes revenge on de Minaur and flies to the third round
On Madrid’s clay it ended 7-6 6-3, now the Spaniard will face Cachin.
After the defeat suffered in Barcelona, Rafael Nadal took revenge on Alex de Minaur and went through to the Masters 1000 in Madrid.
The Majorcan won a very balanced match in two sets (7-6, 6-3), taking the first set from the Australian and then maintaining high levels in the second.
The five-time tournament champion escaped with a 2-0 lead in the first set, before coming back to make it 4-3. But at that moment he broke de Minaur again to drag the match to a tiebreak won 8-6.
In the second set Nadal immediately stole serve from his opponent and led to the final 6-3 without ever giving his rival a chance to break back.
In the next round Nadal will face the Argentine Pedro Cachin.
“I’m not back to what I used to be”
“It was a good match – Nadal’s words – but I’m not back to what I used to be. I’m super happy but it’s still not enough. For me in the last 2 years it has been problematic to play tennis. I don’t know how far I can go in this tournament. I will play match after match, day after day.”
