In Madrid, the 37-year-old Spaniard won against the Australian world number eleven 7:6(6), 6:3 and is in the sixteenth finals of the highly prized clay court tournament. It was a small exclamation point that the 14-time French Open winner made.
Nadal, who has been regularly injured over the past year and a half, has never beaten such a well-ranked opponent in his not very many matches since the beginning of 2023. Nadal played a good game with many winning strokes against de Minaur in Madrid’s “Caja Magica” in front of some celebrities such as King Felipe VI, Zinedine Zidane and Vinicius Junior. After the first set, which lasted 77 minutes, he managed the decisive break right at the start of the second round. De Minaur didn’t get a break point in the second set.
Nadal continues against the Argentinian Pedro Cachin (ATP-91st), who after 13 defeats in a row on the tour in Madrid surprised with victories against the Styrian Sebastian Ofner and the American Frances Tiafoe.
