Nadal's Barcelona return ended by De Minaur
Rafa Nadal's hopes of winning the Barcelona Open for a 13th time were dashed on Wednesday following a 7-5 6-1 second round defeat by Australian fourth seed Alex de Minaur.
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Rafa Nadal's hopes of winning the Barcelona Open for a 13th time were dashed on Wednesday following a 7-5 6-1 second round defeat by Australian fourth seed Alex de Minaur.
Rafael Nadal said he had limited expectations at the Barcelona Open as he made a triumphant return from injury on Tuesday, beating Italy's Flavio Cobolli 6-2, 6-3. The 22-time Grand Slam champion had not played a competitive match since January but eased past the 62nd-ranked Cobolli in 85 minutes to reach the second round. The former world number one has seen his ranking slip to 644 after missing all of the 2023 season following the Australian Open. His comeback at the start of this year hit a stumbling block when he felt a hip injury flare up in Brisbane.
Rafa Nadal said it was a challenge to hold himself back on his return to the ATP Tour after three months on the sidelines but the fiercely-competitive Spaniard expects to continue with the controlled approach in Barcelona.
Rafa Nadal said he was delighted to make a winning return at the Barcelona Open on Tuesday and that it meant a lot to him after going through a tough period due to injuries, as he advanced to the second round with a 6-2 6-3 victory over Flavio Cobolli.
Rafael Nadal made light work of Flavio Cobolli on a triumphant return from injury at the Barcelona Open on Tuesday. The 22-time Grand Slam champion had not played an ATP Tour match since January but dispatched the Italian 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 25 minutes to reach the second round. Nadal, 37, was able to play on clay for the first time since winning the French Open in 2022 and showed flashes of his usual brilliance in a solid display.
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime was pushed to the limit before narrowly defeating Germany's Maximilian Marterer 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), and 7-6 (3) in the first round of the Bavarian International Tennis Championships on Tuesday in Munich.
Novak Djokovic reached a record 77th Masters semi-final on Friday when he defeated Australia's Alex de Minaur in straight sets in Monte Carlo as in-form Jannik Sinner racked up his 25th victory of the year. Djokovic, the 36-year-old world number one came through a rollercoaster quarter-final to win 7-5, 6-4 and make the last-four in the principality for the first time since 2015 when he went on to claim his second title at the tournament. Djokovic, the oldest man to make the Monte Carlo semi-finals in the Open Era, will take on Casper Ruud of Norway for a place in Sunday's championship match.
Defending champion Andrey Rublev was knocked out of the Monte Carlo Masters in a 6-4 6-4 second-round loss to Australian Alexei Popyrin on Wednesday.