“Don’t stop me now”, spits the stadium sound system: Rafael Nadal, who is attempting a final return to form at almost 38 years old despite his battered body, reached the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 in Madrid on Monday by continuing a third victory in a row, a first since the summer of 2022.
It took more than three hours for the Spaniard with 22 Grand Slam titles to overcome Argentinian Pedro Cachin (91st) 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 in the third round. He will face the young Czech Jiri Lehecka (31st) on Tuesday evening.
“I held on to the shock. Right away, I don’t feel like I hurt myself, but I don’t know how I’m going to wake up tomorrow (Tuesday). We have to wait,” summarizes “Rafa”.
“We’ll see if I’m able to play two matches in two days. I hope so. But it’s an unknown factor for me, he insists. It’s been a long time since I’ve experienced charges like that in an official match.”
The Madrid tournament in any case offers him as much rest time as possible, since his match is scheduled last (second match from 8 p.m.).
Nadal had not won three matches in a row since the 2022 US Open (defeat in the next round against Tiafoe), roughly the moment from which the physical struggles no longer gave him any respite.
Three matches won in less than a week is as many for Nadal as since the start of 2024 before the Madrid tournament (two in Brisbane, one in Barcelona).
03h04 min
“I’m thoroughly enjoying playing here. All this time that I’m accumulating on the court this week is of great value to me, both emotionally and tennis-wise,” he appreciates.
These three consecutive victories increase his mileage barely a month before Roland-Garros (May 26-June 9), the sacred ground of his fourteen triumphs which he will only tread, he warned, if he feels “ready enough”.
In the previous round on Spanish ocher, he offered his first victory against a top 20 player since November 2022 at the expense of world No.11 Alex de Minaur (7-6 (8/6), 6-3 ).
Change of atmosphere on Monday in the “Caja magica” of Madrid: roof open, sun out for a while, barely a few “Raaafa, Raaafa, Raaafa” timidly raised from the stands, it no longer had much of a temple at the glory of Nadal on Saturday.
Against an opponent ranked 91 in the world, who had not won a match since October before his improvement in Madrid, Nadal did not have to bring out the heavy artillery in the first set. Patiently constructed points, until finding the fault and accelerating or pushing Cachin to make a mistake, were enough.
Everything got complicated afterwards, when his ball started to hurt less, and the Argentinian found his rhythm.
Trailing 4 games to 1, with a double break behind, Nadal managed to equalize at 5 all after dismissing two set points. When, after another exchange of breaks, he ended up giving in to the decisive game, nailed by a passing on a volley serve that was too daring, and the clock showed 2h12 of the match, we were worried about his physical ability to hold the match. shock.
End of game for Gauff
But the Mallorcan left-hander found the resources to get through it as best he could in 03h04 min.
Jannik Sinner, world No.2 and a man in good form in the first part of the season, dismissed the Russian Pavel Kotov (72nd) 6-2, 7-5 in the third round, after dismissing a set point. He will face another in the round of 16, Karen Khachanov (17th).
Daniil Medvedev (4th) will be opposed to the Kazakh Alexander Bublik (18th), and Casper Ruud (6th), freshly finalized in Monte-Carlo and titled in Barcelona, to Félix Auger-Aliassime (35th).
World No.1 Iga Swiatek rocketed towards the quarter-finals by ejecting the Spaniard Sara Sorribes (55th) 6-1, 6-0 in 67 minutes.
In three matches on Madrid clay, the three-time winner of Roland-Garros, on the throne of world tennis for the hundredth week, only let nine games slip away.
Her next opponent will be world No.14 Beatriz Haddad Maia.
End of game for Coco Gauff: the world No.3 was eliminated by her American compatriot Madison Keys (20th) 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-4.
On her 17th birthday, Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva (43rd), victorious over world No.13 Jasmine Paolini 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, was invited for the first time in her budding career in the quarter-finals of a WTA 1000 tournament.
