Rafael Nadal offered himself an encouraging 7-6 (8/6) 6-3 victory against Alex de Minaur (ATP 11) in the 2nd round of the Masters 1000 in Madrid. He thus took his revenge against the Australian.
It took 2h04 for the Spanish veteran, who will soon be 38, to get the measure of his opponent. Last week, Nadal lost to the same player 7-5 6-1 in the second round in Barcelona, the tournament of his return after more than three months without playing. The Spaniard with 22 Grand Slam titles, who had not beaten a player in the top 20 since November 2022, thus took a nice revenge.
One month before Roland-Garros (May 26-June 9), this victory is likely to raise the rating of his presence in Paris on the beloved land of his fourteen triumphs. In the ‘Caja Magica’ with the roof closed on Saturday afternoon, for an extended first set (76 minutes), ‘Rafa’ was more than a pre-retirement legend who came to say goodbye at home
/ATS