tennis
Rafael Nadal reported back at his home tournament in Madrid after almost a month without injury. The Spaniard, who still had a goodbye in the first round, defeated Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1 7-6 (7/4) in the second round of the Masters 1000 tournament on Wednesday. The 35-year-old took the first step towards his sixth title in the Spanish capital.
Against Kecmanovic, it looked like a short working day for Nadal in the first set. The Spaniard only needed 37 minutes to secure the first half. A rainstorm shortly after the start of the second set, however, seemed to have thrown Nadal out of step. The 35-year-old had a much harder time with his Serbian opponent and, unlike the first set, had to go into a tie-break. There, the 21-time Grand Slam winner from Mallorca had the better end to himself and advanced to the next round after one to two hours with an ace.
Nadal had played his last match to date on March 20 in the Indian Wells final. At the time, the Spaniard had to admit defeat after 20 victories en suite by Taylor Fritz of the United States. However, Nadal had played the match with a stress fracture on a rib in the semi-final. In the round of 16 in Madrid, the local hero meets the Belgian David Goffin, who put the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in place 6: 4 6: 2.
Djokovic – Murray as a special “treat”
A special “treat” awaits the fans in the round of 16 on Thursday. Because the Scot Andy Murray then meets the world number one Novak Djokovic as a reward for his first gravel track victories in five years. Although the duel has already taken place 36 times on the ATP Tour, the latest edition is special. Most recently, Djokovic and Murray met in the Doha final in 2017. The Serb won the final in three sets.
19 comparisons and thus more than half took place in finals. Djokovic leads 25:11 with each other, on clay it is 5: 1. Since the last meeting, Murray has endured a period of suffering with hip problems and hip surgeries. Djokovic, on the other hand, has not played much this year as he has not been vaccinated against the corona virus.
Murray had extended Dominic Thiem’s wait for his comeback victory in the first round by a 6: 3 6: 4. In the second round on Tuesday, the former Wimbledon and US Open winner number 14 eliminated Denis Schapovalov from Canada 6: 1 3: 6 6: 2, thus securing the duel with his longtime rival Djokovic.