Rafael Nadal improved to 14-0 on clay this season and extended his set streak on the surface to 50 when he took care of Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-4 in the Mutua Madrid Open third round on Thursday.
Only one player (Martin Klizan in Barcelona) has even pushed Nadal to 7-5 during this stretch of dominance. Schwartzman almost achieved the same kind of moral victory, breaking the world No. 1 for 4-4 in the second set before earning two game points for 5-4. Nonetheless, Nadal managed to break in the ninth game and served out the match immediately thereafter.
The five-time Madrid champion is joined in the quarterfinals by John Isner and Dusan Lajovic, who advanced in much tougher fashion. Isner outlasted Pablo Cuevas 6-7(9), 7-6(3), 7-6(4), while Lajovic upset Juan Martin Del Potro 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6).
Denis Shapovalov, meanwhile, coasted past fellow Canadian Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-4
“(It was) definitely one of my best days on clay,” the world No. 43 commented. “To be on the court against such a legend for me, and for my country, it was an honor. It was fun. There was no pressure on me; obviously a lot more on him playing a young guy coming up. I just enjoyed myself.
“To beat him, it was a huge confidence-booster for me. The match felt like everything kind of went great. I was guessing a lot the right way on his serves. When I got my racquet on them, usually they were falling in. There’s nothing to criticize about my performance today.
Next up for Shapovalov is Kyle Edmund.
“I have another tough match against Kyle tomorrow. We’re two-all (in the head-to-head series). At the start of the year he beat me in a really close match (in Brisbane). It was unbelievable tennis…. The performance was really, really good from the both of us. I’m definitely expecting a tough match tomorrow. It’s going to be good tennis. We’re both playing extremely well. It’s going to be fun.”
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50
Rafa didnt cruise, it’s a hard fought battle though the score line didn’t tell the full story. To me, this was as hard fought as Rafs’s first match at Barcelona vs fellow Spaniard RCB; then he lost 8 games, the most in a match this clay season and Rafa played better in that match, at least not too many UEs I believe.