The King of Clay made a triumphant return to the court as Rafael Nadal won his opening match at the Madrid Open, his first match back from injury.
Meanwhile, two of the ATP Tour’s famed Big Four– Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – are also through to the third round, and the two old foes will face off for the first time in five years for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Murray was also part of some men’s British tennis history in Madrid with their unprecedented clay-court success.
Read on below as SBOTOP supplies the latest news on the Madrid Open.
Rafa Nadal makes winning return in Madrid
Rafael Nadal made a winning return to the ATP Tour as he beat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1 7-6(4) in his opening match of the Madrid Open.
Nadal, who is back on the court and headlining his home tournament after missing the last two months with a rib injury, wasn’t quite at his sharpest and didn’t make as many Madrid Open 2022 highlights as he would have liked. His service game was particularly rusty as he committed three double faults and was broken twice. But the World No. 4 eventually rallied to win the second set via tiebreak.
Nadal admitted that his preparation for the tournament was not the best as he had to battle back from injury, but was still pleased with his performance in his first match back.
“I leave the match very, very happy,” Nadal said in his post-match press conference. “You have to be sincere with yourself whenever you can. You have to be truthful to yourself. My preparation has not existed. You cannot expect great things at the beginning, because before coming here, first day training was last Thursday. I have trained very, very little.
“I had trained one day, and all training has had some up-and-downs. It’s been a rollercoaster. I have had better days, worse days. It’s logical. I think that yesterday I started to feel a little bit better, and today also in the pre warmup I was feeling well. I think that in general I have played a good match.”
Nadal’s next opponent will be Belgium’s David Goffin, whom he has beaten in all four of their meetings on clay, including in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters in 2017.
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray renew rivalry
After five long years, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray will meet again on the court.
Murray, who was part of the famed Big Four along with Djokovic, Nadal, and Roger Federer, was hampered by hip injuries that forced him to retire from the sport.
But the 34-year-old former World No. 1 is back and playing some top tennis once again. He has already recorded a couple of notable wins in Madrid, beating former world No. 3 Dominic Thiem as well as world No. 16 Denis Shapovalov.
Although, the Madrid Open 2022 betting odds will be heavily against Murray in his matchup against world No. 1 Djokovic, and the Brit knows it.
“In theory I should have no chance in the match. He’s obviously No. 1 in the world [and] I’m playing with a metal hip, so I shouldn’t have a chance in the match,” Murray said after reaching the third round. “It’s a great opportunity for me to see where my game’s at and to play against him again.
Murray is 11-25 in his 46 matches against Djokovic, and each of their last seven meetings have been finals. That includes the final of the 2016 Madrid Masters, which Djokovic won. The two met in clay-court finals twice more during that year, with Murray winning the Rome Masters and Djokovic emerging victorious at Roland Garros.
British trio make history in Madrid
British tennis has made some history in Madrid. Aside from Murray, fellow Brits Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans are also in the third round of the Madrid Open, which marks the first time three British players have reached that stage in an ATP Tour Masters 1000 event on clay.
Norrie, the top-ranked Brit and currently No. 11 in the world, beat American John Isner in three sets, while Evans toppled home favourite Roberto Bautista Agut in a three-setter as well.
But like Djokovic, Norrie and Evans will face tough opponents in the third round. Norrie will face rising Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz, with the winner of that match going on to face the winner of the Nadal-Goffin match. As for Evans, he will face No. 8 seed Andrey Rublev.
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