It is far too early to talk about resurrection but Rafael Nadal clearly took a step forward on Saturday in the search for his best tennis. A week after being soundly beaten in Barcelona by Alex de Minaur (7-5, 6-1), due to lack of physical autonomy after a set, the Spaniard (today 512th in the world) took his revenge on the Australian (11th) 7-6 (6), 6-3, in 2h01, in the second round of the Masters 1000 in Madrid. All under the eyes of the King of Spain and Zinédine Zidane. This is his first success over a member of the top 20 since November 2022 (Casper Ruud, at the Masters). It is also the first time in exactly two years (Madrid 2022) that he has recorded two victories in a row in Masters 1000. He then lost in the quarter-finals against Carlos Alcaraz.
First observation for Nadal, his physique is improving. Not only did he not sink after a set, but we felt him more incisive on his shots. No obvious signs of restraint. And a thousand times stated desire not to give up. Only his concentration sometimes gives the impression of playing a yo-yo.
A huge smile
Nadal started his game producing more topspin on his forehand than in Barcelona. His ball was visibly more troublesome. Break in hand, he led 2-1, 15-30, before an incident with chair umpire Fergus Murphy disconcerted him. For having forgotten to “challenge” a foul ball, he gave up his break in advance (2-2) before abandoning his commitment at 3 all. But de Minaur immediately spat out a bad service game (4-4). The fate of the set would be decided in the tie-break, where Nadal won 6 points to 2. But he wasted these four set points. A forehand fault from the Australian tipped the scales. We had been playing for 1h16.
Nadal then managed to go the distance throughout the second set. Taking advantage of his rival’s errors, he broke from the start, confirmed this lead (2-0) and was never again worried about his service games. Much less clinical than in Barcelona, de Minaur made a series of blunders (34 unforced errors). Nadal signed an end to the match almost worthy of his greatest moments. A double fault ended the debate. The Spaniard’s huge smile after his victory said more than long speeches. In the next round, he will face the Argentinian Pedro Cachin (91st), who eliminated Frances Tiafoe in three sets (7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-4).
