The Spanish Jaume Munar, who last week was eliminated in the first round in Barcelona by the Italian Matteo Arnaldi, took revenge this Sunday in Madrid by beating him 3-6, 6-3 and 6-1 and thus qualifying for the round of 16 final of the Masters 1,000 in Madrid.
It is the best performance by the Spaniard in six appearances in the Caja Mágica, three in the main draw, in which until this edition he had never won a match.
Arnaldi, coming from the previous phase and responsible for the main surprise so far in the tournament by eliminating the fourth player in the world, the Norwegian Casper Ruud, came out willing to prolong his good moment and took the first set without Munar offering much resistance. .
But the Spaniard, ranked 88th on the ATP, played two high-intensity sets, while his rival deflated and lost confidence. The third set was a walk from Munar, who only hesitated at the time of closing the match, when he wasted 5-1 and the rest wasted five match points before winning the final.
Munar’s rival in the round of 16 will be a German, the one who wins the clash between Daniel Altmaier and Yannick Hanfmann. He has already beaten them both once.
Tonight it will be the turn of Carlos Alcaraz, who faces the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (not before 8pm) in the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open. Later, Alejandro Davidovich will complete the day against Holger Rune (not before 9:20 p.m.).