Rafael Nadal said that he “needs time” to return to his very best on the tennis court. On Saturday, April 27, the 37-year-old star defeated Australia’s Alex de Minaur in the second round of the Madrid Open at the Manolo Santana Stadium. He won the match 7-6 (8-6), 6-3. Despite the straight sets win, Nadal reckoned that he was “on and off”.
Nadal looked nervous in the first set, but somehow held his nerves. Nadal let go four set points, but converted the fifth. The second set was a one-sided affair in favour of the Spaniard. Earlier in April, Nadal lost in straight sets to De Minaur in the Barcelona Open, but made amends in Madrid.
Nadal was impressive with his first serves as he garnered 71 percent of points from there. He also hit 13 powerful winners to give a glimpse of his very best.
“No, no… not yet (laughs). It needs time. For moments it was a good level of tennis. I was able to do positive things. But it’s still on and off. Super happy to be able to be competitive against a great player like Alex,” Nadal said in the on-court interview after the match.
‘Can’t thank everybody enough’
It took Nadal a tad over 2 hours to get the better of de Minaur, who has been in good form. The veteran was happy after he managed to survive through the rigours of the game.
“Playing over 2 hours means a lot to me. The atmosphere is justâæ a joke. Just can’t thank everybody here enough,” Nadal added.
Nadal also defeated a player in the top 20 for the first time since 2022. Nadal will next be up against Argentina’s Pedro Cachin in the Round of 32. Cachin will be high on confidence after knocking up Frances Tiafoe.