The emotional tribute that the Mutua Madrid Open is preparing for Rafa Nadal will have to continue waiting. Because the legendary Balearic tennis player (37) refuses to abandon the Masters 1000 tournament in the Spanish capital, he is willing to continue advancing in his physical form to say goodbye to his career with a title. Why not the sixth trophy in Madrid? At the moment, Nadal is already in the round of 16, where the Czech Jiri Lehecka (31st in the world) awaits him this Tuesday.
With a stand dedicated to Manolo Santana on the court, applauding every detail of the Manacor native, his tics, his lobs, his drop shots, his preparations with the towels… Nadal solved the third match with a hard-fought victory, with epic overtones, 6-1 , 6-7 (5) and 6-3, in 3 hours and 4 minutes, over the Argentine Pedro Cachín, world number 91; a declared admirer of the Balearic Islands who ended up being a tough nut to crack. Curiously, in the Argentine’s 10-year professional career, it was the first time he faced his idol.
The match became very difficult for Nadal against a tennis player who arrived in Madrid emotionally shaken after 15 consecutive defeats. He had beaten Francis Tiafoe in the second round, but he dissolved like a sugar cube when facing the giant from Manacor: in just half an hour (29m), Rafa dominated by a crushing 4-1 after breaking the Argentine’s serve twice. Clinging to an infallible serve and a powerful return, Nadal got the first set back on track, which closed with an unappealable 6-1 in 48 minutes.
Nadal, like a diesel, was warming up and picking up the pace. He moved his rival from side to side of the court, taking him out of the rectangle, and showed some glimpses of his best repertoire of blows, such as a great cross-court passing that made it 5-1.
However, Nadal’s increasingly good game was interrupted in the second set. Cachín achieved a 1-3 that disturbed Manolo Santana by breaking the manacorense’s serve in the first game and finishing off with his serve. The Argentine, more aggressive and more effective in serving, avoided the break with a long exchange of 25 blows, enduring the stings of the Spaniard.
Nadal did not react, he missed a couple of dropshots and erred on the side of haste, wanting to solve it the fast way. Cachín, with an increasingly solid serve, broke serve for the second time to make the score 1-4.
The Magic Box woke up to rescue Nadal. The Spaniard dressed in the epic costume, held on to the rest again to break serve twice and reset the match at 5-5.
However, Cachín, grown and consistent, nothing like the doubtful player of the first set, did not let up on his serve at the decisive moment and broke Rafa’s serve (5-6).
But this Nadal does not want to retire without first remembering his reputation as a heroic tennis player who never gives up. With a spectacular blank game he broke the Argentine’s serve and took the duel to a tie-break.
In the tiebreak, the two tennis players became fond of breaking serve. Cachín, more effective, went 1-4, Nadal reacted with three points in a row (4-4), but Cachín broke serve (4-5) and had three set points to end up taking it 6-7 (5 ) after an hour and 25 minutes of agony.
In the third and final set, Nadal started with renewed energy with a break and a blank game (2-0) to put victory on track. Despite being erratic in letting his serve go against a solid Cachín that tied the duel (2-2), the Manacor native continued to express his rage and courage to score another break and go 4-2. With the ninth break, Nadal closed the duel with 6-3 in 3 hours and 4 minutes. “I haven’t competed for a long time and it’s hard for me,” commented the Spaniard.
“Let’s see how we wake up tomorrow. I’m really enjoying playing here, I couldn’t ask for more. All these minutes on the court that I am accumulating this week have a very important value for me, emotionally and tennis-wise,” commented Nadal, who will barely have a rest to face the Czech Lehecka for a place in the quarterfinals.