Rafael Nadal extended his stay in Madrid in his final appearance at his home event on Saturday by defeating Australian Alex de Minaur of Barcelona 7-6 (8/6), 6-3. However, Nadal acknowledged that he still “needs time” to go back to his competitive best.
After facing De Minaur twice in as many weeks, Rafael Nadal’s farewell tour saw the outcome change as the 22-time Grand Slam champion moved on to face Pedro Cachin of Argentina in the third round.
Even though Nadal had acknowledged prior to the competition that he was still dealing with a lot of health problems, he dug deep to defeat the world number 11 in front of a packed house that included Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior, French football legend Zinedine Zidane, and King of Spain Felipe VI.
The 37-year-old put up an amazing performance, but he quickly discounted the notion that it was even close to his peak. “Not just yet, no. It takes time,” Nadal remarked on the court. “It means a lot to me to perform for two hours, and this place is really hilarious. Let’s take it step by step and see how I heal.”
The five-time Madrid champion Rafael Nadal stated that he will wait until after Rome, which begins next week, to decide whether or not to compete in the French Open and outlined the crucial element that would influence his decision. It has nothing to do with winning or losing. The record 14-time French Open champion stated, “It’s about going on court there with the feeling that I can fight and be competitive.” Thus, it doesn’t make sense for me to travel if I can’t go on court and dream. I would rather remain here with all of my incredible memories.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas was unexpectedly eliminated in the second round by world No. 118 Thiago Monteiro.
Tsitsipas, who had only suffered one loss in his previous eleven clay-court matches coming into the Spanish city, fell to the Brazilian qualifier 6-4, 6-4 in a contest that lasted little over ninety minutes.
The seventh-ranked Greek player in the world entered the tournament with a first-round bye. In the two weeks prior, she had won the third title in Monte Carlo and finished second in Barcelona. Nonetheless, Monteiro, who is left-handed, appeared more at ease on the court and benefited from having already won three games this week in both the main draw and qualifying.
“This is undoubtedly one of my greatest victories to date,” declared Monteiro, who is making his first appearance in the third round of a Masters 1000 tournament.
This is only the second time in 11 Masters clay tournaments since the beginning of 2021 that Tsitsipas has failed to go past the quarterfinals, and the 25-year-old Greek was not happy with his play.
“During my returns, I felt out of rhythm the entire game. Tsitsipas remarked, “I felt really unbalanced and like my body was moving all over the place.
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