His victory against the very young (16 years old) and tender American Darwin Blanch (6-0, 6-1) in the first round of the Masters 1,000 in Madrid could not provide any lessons to Rafael Nadal. It is quite different from Saturday’s success against Alex de Minaur, 11th in the world, in two sets (7-6 [8-6]6-3).
Especially since the Australian had beaten the king of clay, who is attempting a final comeback, last week in Barcelona, without possible dispute (7-5, 6-2).
Under Zizou’s eyes
Nadal, who hopes to celebrate his birthday (38 years) on June 3 in his kingdom of Roland-Garros, had not beaten a top 20 player since November 2022. He did so in an arena that had no eyes only for him, and in the presence of Zinédine Zidane.
“There is room for improvement, but it means a lot to me to have been able to play an entire match,” Nadal appreciated afterwards. “Last week, I was only able to be competitive for one set. Today, I was able to be there for more than two hours, and on top of that there is victory. »
In the third round, the man with 22 Grand Slam victories will meet the Argentinian Pedro Cachin or the American Frances Tiafoe.