In just a week’s time, Rafael Nadal is making significant strides in his comeback to tennis.
Just ask Alex de Minaur.
Eleven days after losing to De Minaur at the Barcelona Open in straight sets, Nadal raised his level to power past the Aussie 7-6(6), 6-3 in round two of the Mutua Madrid Open on Saturday afternoon. The 37-year-old Spaniard treated the home crowd to his biggest and best win since the fall of 2022, prevailing in two hours and two minutes.
There were plenty of tense moments in a tight first set. The two players took turns battling back from a break down before Nadal raced to a 6-2 advantage in the ensuing tiebreaker. De Minaur erased four consecutive set points to reach 6-6, but Nadal finally capitalized on his fifth chance.
With momentum in hand, the five-time Madrid champion played even better in the second–coinciding with an obvious drop in his opponent’s form. Nadal broke right away for a 1-0 lead and eventually closed it out in style with another break at 5-3 after De Minaur double-faulted on match point.
“No, not yet,” the former world No. 1 responded when asked if the “Old Nadal” is back. “It needs time. I think for moments it [was] a good level of tennis. I was able to do positive things, but still on and off. Super happy to be competitive against a great player like Alex, to play more than two hours, it means a lot to me. The atmosphere is a joke. I can’t thank enough everybody here.
“I really believe that (my) tennis hasn’t been an issue for the last two years–more the physical issues. If I am able to play weeks in a row, then I’m gonna see how far I can go and how competitive I could be. That’s not the case yet. Step by step; let’s see how I recover.”
Nadal will face unseeded Pedro Cachin on Monday. Cachin, who upset Frances Tiafoe 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-4, had been on a 15-match losing streak prior to arriving in Madrid.
nice one, Rafa