Spanish fans can look forward to the top of the local champions at the Masters 1000 in Madrid in the quarter-finals. Because in the last eight there is a duel between the generations star Rafael Nadal and his designated successor Carlos Alcaraz. However, the Spaniards had to fight hard in their 16-game turn to secure the summit meeting.
05/05/2022 23:47
Online since yesterday at 11:47 PM
Nadal, who has been slowed down by a stress fracture in a rib for the past six weeks, has had to fight hard against Belgium’s David Goffin to advance in the round 6-3 5-7 7-6 (11/9). In the crucial tiebreak, the 35-year-old Spaniard, who made unusual mistakes in the match, had to dodge four match points. After 3:13, third seed Nadal used his second match point and created a relaxed atmosphere in the stands.
Next, Alcaraz, seeded seven, had to fight hard against 9th seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain before reaching, on his 19th birthday, the quarter-finals with a score of 6:4 6:7 (4/7) 6:3. For Alcaraz, the next round is about his first win over his high-profile compatriot. Because the veteran Nadal has reigned supreme in duels so far – most recently in March in the semi-finals of Indian Wells.
With some effort, Alcaraz earned the third comparison with Nadal’s role model
No duel Murray vs Djokovic
The tournament’s top seed, Novak Djokovic, may be waiting for the Spaniards in the semi-finals. The Serb took out Andy Murray, but without a single punch. Because the 34-year-old Scot had to cancel the round of 16 duel against the world number one Serbian on Thursday due to illness.
“Unfortunately, Andy Murray is unable to compete due to illness,” tournament organizers wrote on Twitter. The 37th duel between Austrian Dominic Thiem and Djokovic’s first-round opener was cancelled.
Three-time Grand Slam winner Murray is currently only 78th in the ATP rankings after several hip surgeries in recent years. Djokovic will now meet Paul Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals, who defeated Serbian Dusan Lajovic 7:5 6:3.
Zverev takes advantage of the mission
The German Alexander Zverev, in turn, was relatively rested in the quarter-finals. The German took advantage of the injury problems of his rival Lorenzo Mossetti (Italy), who had to surrender after just 39 minutes with a 6:3 1:0 score for Zverev. Stefanos Tsitsipas, the fourth seed in the tournament, beat Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6:3 6:4 and now meets Russian Andrey Rublev.
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