Nadal turns back the clock – and turns up the hope – with win over De Minaur in Madrid

Shouts reverberated inside Madrid’s Caja Magica as Rafael Nadal and Alex de Minaur battled on Saturday evening, Manolo Santana Stadium embraced in a cacophonous fever pitch that sounded more like a World Cup game than a Masters 1000 tennis match. 

But Rafael Nadal has always had the ability to elevate an atmosphere with his clay-court wizardry, and Saturday was no exception. The screaming public came to admire the legendary King of Clay, and they were rewarded with a glimpse into the past and – maybe, just maybe – the short-term future of Nadal as the 37-year-old five-time champion turned back the clock and created a cluster of new memories with a 7-6(6), 6-3 victory over 11th-ranked Alex de Minaur in Madrid. 

Asked on court if the old Rafael Nadal was back, the 14-time Roland-Garros champion smiled and said: “No, no, not yet… needs time.” 

Back or not, it’s clear that Nadal has taken a giant step in his form this week in Madrid. The comparison between what he delivered last week in Barcelona, where he was bounced from the draw by De Minaur 7-5, 6-1, and today’s effort, was truly night and day. 

And so, the familiar phrase will now sit on the tip of the tongue of those who follow the sport closely: count Nadal out at your own peril. 

Over the last few weeks, at times, it has sounded like even Nadal was counting himself out as he continually downplayed his chances, but after today’s energetic display against one of the tour’s toughest outs in 2024, the feeling is more sanguine than it has been. 

“I was able to do some positive things, but still on and off,” Nadal said. “But still, super happy to be able to be competitive against a great player like Alex, to play over two hours – it means a lot to me.” 

As for the atmosphere in Madrid, where the fans were packed in like sardines and chanting “RAFA! RAFA! RAFA!” from the moment Nadal walked through the tunnel, the Spaniard gave rave reviews. 

“The atmosphere here is just… a joke,” Nadal said.

Nadal’s backhand, which earned him several big points in crucial moments, was certainly not a joke, and the Spaniard used it to keep De Minaur off balance exceptionally well. It wasn’t a perfect match, but Nadal is only seeking improvement as he tries to find his form so that he may make one more run at Roland-Garros, which begins on May 26. 

With his win over De Minaur Nadal improves to 58-14 lifetime at Madrid, and 477-46 lifetime on clay. He also earned his first top 20 win since the 2022 ATP finals. 

De minaur: “Today you saw him close to his level of the past”

Nadal struggled to win free points off his first serve, but didn’t let it stop him from going on the attack against De Minaur in a seesaw opening set. He was up a break early, down a break in the middle, then, finally, had to sweat it out as the Aussie saved four set points before yielding on the fifth at the conclusion of a nerve-wracking tiebreak that concluded when De Minaur missed a forehand long. 

A letdown in the second set would have been excusable for Nadal – he was playing just his seventh match of the season, and just his fourth since missing three months with a muscle tear – but it didn’t happen. Nadal broke in the opening game of the second set and never looked back. 

He dropped just four points on serve in four service games and closed out the victory on his second match point, ending proceedings at the two hour and three-minute mark. 

After the match, De Minaur said he would have liked to have played better, but praised Nadal’s form, and the improvements he has made in just one week.

“In Barcelona he wasn’t prepared to play,” he said. “Today you saw him close to his level of the past.”

Nadal said that his struggles have never been about the tennis. It’s just getting the body right so that he can take his reps and make steady improvements. Over the last two weeks, he has been able to do that without any setbacks. That is the most positive development, says the 22-time major champion.

“I really believe that tennis has not been an issue for the last two years,” he said. “It has been more the physical issues. If I am able to play weeks in a row, then I am going to see how far I can go and how good I can be. That’s not the case yet, so it’s just step by step and let’s see how I recover.” 

Nadal will face Argentina’s Pedro Cachin in the third round.

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