NOS Sport•gisteren, 16:18
Rafael Nadal has reached the eighth finals of the tournament in Madrid. He needed more than three hours to get rid of the Argentinian Pedro Cachin: 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3.
Nadal passed in a dream to Cachin in Madrid
Nadal, who won the master tournament in Madrid five times and is therefore the record holder, easily took the first set. However, in set two, the 37-year-old Spaniard had all the trouble.
It was broken three times, but also broke back three times. In the tiebreak he drew the short straw and so a third set was necessary. Nadal immediately broke the serve of the Argentinian number 91 in the world rankings. Cachin came back to 2-2, but then had to surrender.
Nadal now meets Jiri Lehecka, the Czech was done with Thiago Monteiro in two sets,
Medvedev langs Korda
It did not go without a fight, but Daniil Medvedev also qualified for the eighth finals in Madrid. The third-seeded Russian – and number four in the world rankings – defeated Sebastian Korda (ATP-25) in three sets on the Spanish clay: 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
AFPDaniil Medvedev
Korda started excellently and took full advantage of the sloppiness that Medvedev allowed himself. The 23-year-old American was 3-0 in no time and moments later had two chances to put his opponent a double break behind. Medvedev recovered as he so often does, managed to get his service game in and then saw the opportunity to make the rebreak.
Zes setpoints
The set seemed to be heading for a tiebreak, but at 6-5 in his favor Korda caused the sometimes ‘old-fashioned’ grumbling Russian to get into trouble again. He managed to clear a 0-40 score, as well as the next two break and set points, but he defeated himself completely on the sixth.
AFPSebastian Repeat
In the second set both kept each other well balanced, but Korda ruined himself in the tiebreak with small mistakes. He helped Medvedev, whose serve had started to run much better, with three set points in a row. It was a hit on the third.
It turned out to be the turning point in the game. Korda had to give up his service game at 3-4, after which Medvedev decisively served out the game.
