Rafael Nadal, now ranked 512 in the ATP, advanced to the third round of the Masters 1000 in Madrid on Saturday night after knocking out No. 10 seed Alex De Minaur. A 5-time champion in Madrid, Nadal prevailed with the score of 7-6 (6), 6-3, at the end of a match that lasted two hours of play.
The Australian tennis player analyzed his defeat and admired the high level that Rafa Nadal displayed at the Mutua Madrid Open 2024. About 15 days ago, he was the player who defeated the Spaniard in Barcelona. The Australian revealed how he got to this match, how he saw Rafa and what was the influence of the recent clash in Barcelona.
The “Demon” De Minaur, set up by Rafa Nadal, in Madrid
Alex De Minaur talked about how he prepared for this match, admitting that it was difficult: “In the end it’s not easy. It is what it is, you never know what’s going to happen. You prepare for everything, for the conditions, for the type of match, for all the expectations, for the crowd, you prepare as well as possible and then you have to to get on the field and play the way you need to play. If that doesn’t happen, it’s difficult to cope with these matches or play them the way you want to.
I think the level he showed today was quite high. I would have liked to play a bit better myself, it’s true, but that’s tennis. You try to give it your all and there are days you can do that and days you can’t. It’s exactly what we expected. At Barcelona, he was not ready to play and it showed on the pitch, today we saw him close to his past level. For me, today was at a very high level, at a very high intensity, from the first point to the end”.
Finally, De Minaur spoke about the influence the Barcelona game had on him: “The Barcelona game was a very difficult game to play. You go, you manage to play, you manage to win and play the way you want and then you have to face it and show your game again the next week. I knew that from this time it will be at a higher level, much better and yet the expectations are on me. I am at a level where this is normal and I have to play at a higher level in these types of matches things didn’t work out for me”.
