Last minute of Nadal – De Minaur, live:
Rafael Nadal He more than fulfilled his return to clay with a comfortable victory in the first round of the tournament Count of Godó before a wanderer Flavio Cobolli. A match in which Nadal’s experience surpassed a rookie in the tournament. However, the Mallorcan did not have much time to reflect on the match because 24 hours laterget back on track this time with a higher caliber test: Alex de Minaur.
This Wednesday, without a restbecause it is 644 on the lists, A rested yes awaits Alex de Minaur, 11th in the ranking and third seed in the tournament. Both tennis players have faced each other up to four timeswith a favorable balance for the manacorí due to 3-1. His last confrontation was at the beginning of 2023 in the United Cup, only match that the Australian resident in Alicante has won. In Barcelona it is the first time that both face each other on clay.
The Australian is completing a good season, after lifting the title in March last Acapulco, reach the final in Rotterdam against Sinner and the quarterfinals at the Monte Carlo Masters 1000. A second rival that It will require more pace from the Balearic Islands, with a more physical tennis like the one he demonstrated in 2022 on this tournament in the semifinals against Carlos Alcaraz. De Minaur had up to two match points to eliminate the Murcian, who was finally able to recover and end up winning the title.
Con 12 titles in Barcelona, Nadal accumulate 67 wins for only four defeats, a statistic that he will want to continue expanding on the track that is named after him. However, the Mallorcan is aware of his current situation: “Honestly, I don’t know how to face the game. It is a moment in which it is difficult to consider things in a more specific way,” he confessed after beating Cobolli.
After the victory in his return to the competition, the Manacorí analyzed what his second round match against the Australian will be like: “Nowadays this is a jungle, you don’t know what you can find, referring to myself. Maximum demand, He is a player who has started the season very well. I am going day by day, enjoying it as much as I can. “It’s a demanding game, I don’t know if I’ll be able to endure it, but we’re going step by step.”
We will see if the body respects the manacorí and what sensations it will have throughout the encounter that we can consider as the Nadal’s first great challenge on the clay of the city of Barcelona.
