Masters 1000 Madrid, Rafael Nadal in third round, beat Alex De Minaur

Masters 1000 Madrid, Rafael Nadal in third round, beat Alex De Minaur

Rafael Nadal, a five-time winner of the clay tournament in the Spanish capital, advances to the third round of the Madrid Masters 1000 by beating Australian Alex De Minaur, world number 11, with a score of 7-6 6-3 after two hours of play.

Four breaks in the first set, in the second and eighth games in favor of Nadal, in the third and seventh in favor of De Minaur. It then goes to the tie-break, in which Rafa goes 6-2 but misses the four set points, immediately gets another and this time è the good one.

The second set è decided by two breaks, of course both in favor of Nadal, in the first and last game of the partial. Now the 37-year-old Majorcan outfielder afronterà Argentine Pedro Cachin.

“Yes, I am surprised,” Nadal said at the end of the match. “I come from many difficult months professionally, but I always got up in the morning with the hope of experiencing such an afternoon. So thank you. I make mistakes, this audience never, I can’t ask for more.

“I can improve, but we go one day at a time. I didn’t even know if I could play a whole game. Last week with Alex I couldn’t do it. And I earned another game here, which is incredible. Cachin è a tough rival but all that matters to me is being able to come back here”, Rafa concluded.