By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Rafael Nadal’s bid for a sixth championship title in the ongoing Madrid Open is still alive after sweeping Alex de Minaur- 7.6, 6.3- on April 27, 2024, at the Caja Magica in Manzanares Park, San Fermin, Spain.
After a nip-and-tuck affair in the opening set that reached a tiebreaker, Nadal finally took full control of the game in the second set after scoring back-to-back break points.
It was still anybody’s game in the opening frame as de Minaur was able to neutralize Nadal’s forehand spins by countering with a heavy slice game.
That strategy proved to be effective as he started to keep himself within striking distance to force a tiebreaker period.
However, Nadal was able to break through in the tiebreaker after scoring three crucial baseline exchanges that hiked his lead to as much as three points.
Nadal then capped off the first set with a booming forehand that steered him to a much-needed 1-0 early lead.
De Minaur tried to level Nadal’s groundstroke pace with his own power shots but midway through the second set, the living legend’s spin consistency lifted him out of another danger zone.
Nadal then officially fended off the de Minaur fightback after dominating the last eight baseline exchanges to advance to the next round of the 2024 Madrid Open.
After the victory over de Minaur, Nadal will next be facing Pedro Cachin of Argentina in the Round of 32 today.
Before setting up a showdown with de Minaur, Nadal first got the better of America’s Darwin Blanch- 6.1, 6.0- on April 25, 2024.
