Rafael Nadal’s fitness improves, reaches fourth round of Madrid Open

Rafael Nadal returned from injury at the Mutua Madrid Open on Monday by defeating world number 91 Pedro Cachin 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 to enter the fourth round.

After losing the second set in the tie-break, Nadal showed his improved fitness and fought hard in the third set and won in a marathon match that lasted three hours and four minutes.

In front of a packed crowd at Madrid’s Manolo Santana Center Court, the 37-year-old Nadal showed glimpses of his old tennis, which has made him a five-time champion in Madrid.

“Let’s see how I feel when I wake up the next morning, I hope I’ll be OK,” Nadal told Spanish TV after his win.

In another match, third seeded Russian player Daniil Medvedev had to work hard to defeat American player Sebastian Korda. Korda won the first set 7–5. After this, Medvedev had to struggle a lot in the second set and in the end he won the second set by 7-6 (7-4) in the tiebreaker. In the third and decisive set, Medvedev did not face much challenge and won the third set 6-6 (7-4). Won by 3. With this, Medvedev defeated Korda 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in a match that lasted two hours and 22 minutes.

Casper Ruud also qualified for the last-16 with a 6-2, 6-4 win over 29th seed Cameron Norrie.

On the women’s side, top seed Iga Swiatek reached the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Spain’s Sara Sorribes Torbo, who had earlier defeated former champion Victoria Azarenka.

The 2022 winner, Ons Jabeur, also reached the last eight, where the eighth seed defeated ninth seed Jelena Ostapenko 6–0, 6–4 in the opening set of her match.