ATP BARCELONA – Rafael Nadal (37) played what is likely to be his last match at the ATP 500 home clay tournament in Barcelona. The 12-time champion appeared in the capital of Catalonia in competitive mode for only the second time since last January, and he is saying goodbye to the popular event with a record of one win and one defeat. In the second round, the Spanish tennis player lost 5:7, 1:6 to Alex de Minaur from Australia (25), who made 47 unforced errors and played only 11 winning shots.
De Minaur – Nadal 7:5, 6:1
After hip surgery last year and almost a year off, Rafael Nadal has hinted that this season will likely be his last. Due to other health problems, he has played only two tournaments so far and without any significant success. After the quarter-final defeat in Brisbane, he did not make his mark even this week in front of the home fans in Barcelona, where he presented himself after another longer hiatus due to problems with his hip and abdominal muscles.
And he ended up on the Australian’s racket again. He was not good enough for Alex de Minaur after his defeat to Jordan Thompson in January. While his average performance was enough against the Italian Flavio Cobolli on Tuesday, he was toothless against the world eleven and lost 5:7, 1:6.
Although Nadal turned from 1:3 to 4:3 in the first set and had a break point, he did not use it and did not get more chances. From 5:4, he lost 11 fifteens in a row, lost 9 of the last 10 games, and after less than two hours of suffering, the tournament was over for him.
The 37-year-old Spaniard scored ten less winning shots (11:21) and committed significantly more unforced errors (42:26). He lost to an Australian who is 12 years younger for the second time in a row, and he now leads only 3:2 in the head-to-head record.
Alex de Minaur vs Rafael Nadal Match Stats (@Livesport)
“Alex is a great player, he has certainly raised his level of play since the beginning of the season. And today he was in better form than me,” Nadal said. He was glad to be able to play in Barcelona at all. “It was painful and a week ago I thought I would lose the tournament. I hope and believe that in a few weeks I will be competitive,” he added with hope towards the French Open, which he has won fourteen times.
On the beloved clay, Nadal completed the first tournament since the triumph at the French Open 2022. He played in Barcelona for the first time since 2021, when he celebrated a record 12th triumph from his overall 92 titles. This year, he could advance to the 3rd round as the oldest player in the history of the tournament, but he did not improve Barcelona’s excellent record (now 67:5).
Demon’s Day! @alexdeminaur defeats 12-time Barcelona champion Nadal 7-5 6-1 @bcnopenbs #BCNOpenBS pic.twitter.com/lMzwpSDYLj
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 17, 2024
“When I saw the lottery ticket, I wasn’t very excited. But in the end, I accepted the top as a huge once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And now I’m very happy that I was able to win.” commented De Minaur, who was the first to defeat Nadal on clay.
“The only thing I could have had the upper hand against Rafa on clay at this stage of his career was physicality. I tried to extend the exchanges and use my speed. And I’m probably glad I didn’t play Rafa on clay a few years ago. That would probably be a very different result.” added the twenty-five-year-old De Minaur.
Ofner – Tsitsipas 4:6, 5:7
Three days after his triumph at the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo, world number seven Stefanos Tsitsipas successfully entered the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona. The 2018, 2021 and 2023 finalist opened with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Austria’s Sebastian Ofner as he overturned the second set from 3-5, 0-30 down to extend his head-to-head lead to 3-0.
For a place in the quarterfinals, the seven-match unbeaten Greek will play against Spaniard Roberto Carbáles (H2H 2:0).
Results of the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona
Article originally published for Livesport News.
2024-04-17 22:04:29
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