Resilient Nadal battles past Cachin in more than three hours to reach last 16 in Madrid

Rafael Nadal added more momentum to his comeback from injury as he beat Argentinian Pedro Cachin 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 in three hours, two minutes to reach the last 16 of the Madrid Masters at the Caja Magica on Monday.

The 37-year-old showed great resolve as he recovered from the loss of the second set to win his first three-setter of the week, setting up a clash with No 30 seed Jiri Lehecka next.

“Some moments good, some moments not good but I found a way to get through,” Nadal said. “In the third set, even with some mistakes I was able to be a little more unpredictable and I think that helped a lot.

“Now, I’m enjoying it. Let’s see how I wake up tomorrow. Just try my best to keep dreaming. Tomorrow is another day to keep dreaming, in front of this amazing crowd. That means everything.

Nadal races to first set before Cachin fights back

Until this tournament, Cahin went six months without winning a match and in the first set, even if Nadal didn’t look quite as dynamic as he had in beating Alex de Minaur in the previous round, it was a mismatch.

But the second set was far more competitive and Cachin began to push Nadal around from the baseline, his easy power doing some damage. Still Nadal had chances, fighting back from a double-break down to level at 5-5 and then, after being broken again, breaking back to force a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, Cachin led 4-1 and just about hung on to take it 7-5.

Nadal steps up attack in third

As the clock ticked on, some of the fans might have doubted Nadal’s stamina after so long away with first hip and most recently abdominal injuries.

But the 14-time Roland-Garros champion, five times the champion in Madrid, struck first in the third, breaking in the first game on his way to a 2-0 lead. Cachin broke back for 2-2 but Nadal was stepping up his aggression and broke for 3-2.

That proved to be the vital break as he held the advantage and then clinched victory when Cachin went long from the baseline.

In the previous rounds, the 37-year-old Spaniard defeated American wildcard Darwin Blanch (6-1, 6-0) and Australian De Minaur, the No 10 seed (7-6 (6), 6-3).

Cachin, ranked No 91, won against Austrian Sebastian Ofner (6-3, 6-3) and edged out American Frances Tiafoe, the No 20 seed (7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-4) earlier in the tournament.

Madrid Masters 1000, other third-round results (Caja Magica, clay, EUR 7.877.020, most recent results first):

• Jannik Sinner vs. Pavel Kotov
• Flavio Cobolli vs. Karen Khachanov
• Casper Ruud (5) beat Cameron Norrie (29): 6-2, 6-4
• Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Jakub Mensik: 6-1, 1-0 ret.
• Daniil Medvedev (3) beat Sebastian Korda (25): 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3
• Jiri Lehecka beat Thiago Monteiro (Q): 6-4, 7-6 (7)
• Alexander Bublik (17) beat Ben Shelton (14): 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4
• Alexander Zverev (4) beat Denis Shapovalov: 6-4, 7-5
• Francisco Cerundolo (21) beat Tommy Paul (15): 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-2
• Taylor Fritz (12) beat Sebastian Baez (18): 6-2, 6-3
• Carlos Alcaraz (2) beat Thiago Seyboth Wild: 6-3, 6-3
• Hubert Hurkacz (8) beat Daniel Altmaier: 6-4, 7-6 (2)
• Andrey Rublev (7) beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (27): 7-6 (10), 6-4
• Jan-Lennard Struff (23) beat Ugo Humbert (13): 7-5, 6-4
• Tallon Griekspoor (24) beat Holger Rune (11): 6-4, 4-6, 6-3