Spain10 days after losing in Barcelona, Rafael Nadal successfully avenged Alex de Minaur by defeating his opponent 7-6 (6), 6-3 in Madrid on the afternoon of April 27.
The match was two hours and two minutes long, with many persistent shots that often favored Nadal. The 37-year-old tennis player is not afraid to make difficult shots, like a cross-court backhand to increase the score to 7-6 in the first set tie-break. This classy play by Nadal made De Minaur somewhat mentally ill, leading to a shot out in the set-point match later.
Madrid Open is held on a field 657 meters above sea level. This is a difficult condition for a veteran like Nadal. But the 22 Grand Slam owner played with fire from the start, under the cheers of the home crowd and many family members, including his wife.
De Minaur (left) congratulates Nadal after the match at Manolo Santana Stadium, Madrid on April 27. Image: Reuters
Nadal’s poor serve ability put Nadal in difficult positions many times, losing two of the first four service games. De Minaur knew his senior’s weakness so he repeatedly attacked right on the return, putting Nadal under great pressure from the back of the court. But the Australian player also served erratically on a court that was not his forte. After leading 4-3 and holding serve, De Minaur let Nadal equalize and had to go into a tie-break series.
In the tie-breaker series, the world number 11 player continued to serve poorly. He made many mistakes and let Nadal lead 6-2. It seemed like the legendary host would quickly win this series, but De Minaur suddenly turned the situation around, saving four set-points in a row to equalize 6-6. However, Nadal woke up, scored a winner and forced his opponent to miss the next two points to close the series with a score of 8-6.
Nadal’s exciting momentum continued at the beginning of the second set when he won the first game of blocking the ball, creating a two-game lead and maintaining this until the end of the set. This is the set where Nadal somewhat improved his serve with more power and spin, leaving De Minaur without any break points. In the final game, Nadal returned the ball and won the second match point, closing the match with a 6-3 victory in this set.
“I endured a two-hour match and this was amazing,” Nadal said after the match. “There are things I can’t do yet, but I need to believe in myself. Today I improved my serve and got a little less nervous. I want to play at the highest level of competition at Roland Garros, The most important award of my life.”
Nadal will play Pedro Cachin in the third round and then possibly 30th seed Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round. The five-time champion won the quarterfinals with third seed Daniil Medvedev.
Vy Anh
