A dream has come true for tennis professional Pedro Cachin. The Argentine was able to compete with Rafael Nadal at the ATP Masters in Madrid. He was even given a gift afterwards.
Rafael Nadal not only makes his fans happy at the Masters in Madrid, but also his opponents. After the arduous 6:1, 6:7 (5:7), 6:3 victory in the third round, he quickly gave his opponent Pedro Cachin a jersey.
Cachin went to the Spaniard immediately after the game to pay tribute to him. “Rafa, you made a dream come true for me, thank you,” were the 29-year-old’s emotional words, which were captured by the ATP cameras.
He then asked Nadal frankly: “I don’t know if protocol allows it, but could I keep a T-shirt of yours or something else?” The 22-time Grand Slam winner immediately agreed, went to his bag, grabbed a shirt and gave his opponent the souvenir.
Becker zur Nadal-Geste: “Let’s go Rafa”
The scene spread by the ATP quickly went viral online. German tennis icon Boris Becker also noticed Nadal’s gesture. “Vamos Rafa,” he wrote on the short message service X.
Nadal continues to be in rising form at the ATP Masters in Madrid. At first he dominated his opponent at will, and after 47 minutes the first set was won. But the favorites’ mistakes increased, so Cachin was able to equalize in the tiebreak. In the decisive set, the clay court king woke up again and, despite some effort, brought the match home after 3:04 hours.
His opponent in the quarterfinals is the Czech Jiri Lehecka.
For Rafael Nadal, Madrid is the second tournament after his comeback. The 37-year-old had failed in the second round of the competition in Barcelona against Australian Alex De Minaur two weeks earlier.
2024-04-30 09:24:00
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