The third-round match at the Mutua Madrid Open between fourth seed Rafael Nadal and 16^th seed Nick Kyrgios had plenty of hype around it, but the Spaniard blunted any chances for drama with a convincing 6-3, 6-1 win. 

“I think I served very well and committed very few errors. I think I made a step forward compared to yesterday. To be able to win 6-3, 6-1 is great news,” said Nadal. “It’s not normal to win against an opponent like this because Nick is a really good opponent.”

Nadal takes the lead against Kyrgios in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 2-1, with both wins coming on clay. He picks up his tour-leading 31st win of the season and remains undefeated on clay this year with a 12-0 record. The four-time Madrid champion picked up his 10th tournament titles this spring at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell.

Next up for Nadal is ninth seed David Goffin, who broke a two-match losing streak against fifth seed Milos Raonic in a 6-4, 6-2 victory that was full of confidence. The Belgian, who improved to a 27-9 match record on the season, has reached two ATP World Tour finals this year at the Garanti Koza Sofia Open (l. to Dimitrov) and the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (l. to Tsonga).

Nadal dropped just four games in winning his lone FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting with Goffin last month in Monte-Carlo.

“Tomorrow I’m expecting a tough match. It’s going to be against one of the best players. He’s very fit. I know that I have to play at my highest level, perhaps similar to today or even better,” said Nadal. “I think my backhand was good today and my forehand was there. I think I have some margin to do it even better tomorrow and step forward. Hopefully I will make it to the next round. Tomorrow is a day I have to be ready and give my best.”

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Kyrgios arrived in Madrid with a lack of preparation due to traveling to Australia last month for his grandfather’s funeral. The normally confident Aussie admitted in his post-match press conference that “I wasn’t expecting to beat [Nadal] at all tonight,” but believes his game will round into form in the coming days.

“I just haven’t been in the general gist of being a tennis player. I haven’t been training. I’ve just been doing nothing really,” said Kyrgios. “I won a couple rounds and lost to Rafa. I’m relatively happy with my first week on clay. But he played well tonight and was by far the better player.”

Nadal grabbed the first break of the match with a netcord return winner to go up 3-1, but Kyrgios responded with a scorching backhand winner in the next game to break right back. The Aussie quickly gave away the momentum, though, hitting a double fault to put Nadal up 4-2. Kyrgios saved two set points on his serve at 2-5, but Nadal comfortably held in the next game with a forehand winner to take the early advantage.

The second set was one-way traffic for Nadal. The Spaniard won 14 out of 15 points at one stage en route to prevailing in 72 minutes.

Alexander Zverev scored his first win on clay over a Top 10 player in the Emirates ATP Rankings, reaching the third round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday in a late-night thriller over seventh seed Marin Cilic 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4. 

The #NextGenATP German boosts his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Cilic to 3-1 and has won their past three matches.

He’ll now take on 11^th seed Tomas Berdych for a place in the last eight after the Czech player defeated Robin Haase 7-6(5), 6-3. Zverev trails his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Berydch 1-4, but won their most recent meeting this past September in St. Petersburg.

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Cilic recovered from being a break down at 3-4 in the opening set and held the lead throughout the tie-break to take the early advantage. Zverev was forced to save six break points in his first two service games of the second set, but the momentum swung in his favour after clearing that hurdle. He only needed a single break of serve in each set to claim victory in two hours and 34 minutes.

Zverev has been a hot streak after prevailing on home soil last week in Munich to win his fourth ATP World Tour title and second of the season. He currently sits at No. 19 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, one spot off his career-high standing, but could surpass that with another big run this week.

Benoit Paire recorded the first major upset of the tournament on Court Manolo Santana, hanging tough to defeat third seed Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.

The Frenchman improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head against Wawrinka to 3-7 and picks up his first win on clay against the former Roland Garros champion.

Next up for Paire is Pablo Cuevas, who won a marathon 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 match against Nicolas Mahut. The World No. 52 in the Emirates ATP Rankings leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head over Cuevas 3-0, including a win this March at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Miami.

Wawrinka was left to rue a series of missed opportunities in the first set. The Swiss star was up 4-2, 40/0, but let Paire back in with several errors and the Frenchman earned the break back with a volley winner. A forehand sent well long by Wawrinka gave Paire a 6-5 lead and the unseeded player comfortably wrapped up the set on serve in the next game.

A 15-minute rain delay pulled both men off the court at 2-2 in the second set. When they returned, it was Paire who stumbled out of the gate by double faulting to give Wawrinka a 3-2 lead. The third seed missed a chance to serve out the set at 5-3, but ripped a forehand return winner on set point in the next game to force a decider.

Wawrinka had momentum in his favour, but played a loose opening game in the third set to drop his serve. He then gave Paire an insurance break at 2-4 with a backhand error. Paire served out the match in the next game to advance in one hour and 48 minutes.

More: Djokovic Fights Hard For Almagro Win

In other second-round matches, 12^th seed Grigor Dimitrov defeated Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 7-5 and will next play eighth seed Dominic Thiem. #NextGenATP Croatian Borna Coric, a lucky loser in the draw, moved past qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-5, 6-4. The 20 year old is rewarded for his efforts with a round of 16 showdown against top seed Andy Murray.

Local favourite David Ferrer advanced without hitting a ball when 10^th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to withdraw due to a shoulder injury.

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following match-ups Thursday at the Mutua Madrid Open & vote for who you think will win! 
Nadal v Kyrgios | Djokovic v Lopez | Murray v Coric | Nishikori v Ferrer

View Thursday schedule

• Five of the Top 6 seeds are in third-round action at the Mutua Madrid Open on Thursday, including past champions Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Murray meets #NextGenATP player Borna Coric, who could become the first lucky loser ever to reach the Madrid quarter-finals. Djokovic takes an 8-1 head-to-head record into his match with Madrid native Feliciano Lopez.
 
• Nadal, who leads all players with 30 wins in 2017 and four Madrid titles, faces No. 16 seed Nick Kyrgios for the third time. Their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry is even at one win each. Kyrgios hit 37 aces to stun then-No. 1 Nadal at 2014 Wimbledon as a 19-year-old wild card ranked 144th. But when they met again on the clay courts of Rome last May, Nadal rallied from a set down for the win.

• Spaniard David Ferrer seeks his 700th win for a second straight day after receiving a walkover from Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Ferrer tries again against 2014 finalist Kei Nishikori, who defeated him at Caja Magica in 2014 and 2015. No. 11 seed Tomas Berdych is nearing a milestone of his own. The 2012 Madrid finalist, two wins shy of 600, meets #NextGenATP player Alexander Zverev.

• No. 5 seed Milos Raonic and No. 9 seed David Goffin will renew their rivalry, which includes the Canadian’s comeback from two sets down en route to the 2016 Wimbledon final. The 26-year-olds are both ranked in the Top 10 after reaching two finals each in 2017. They’ve come a long way from Australian Open qualifying in 2011, when then-No. 152 Raonic defeated then-No. 205 Goffin.

• Another all-seeded showdown pits No. 8 seed Dominic Thiem against No. 12 seed Grigor Dimitrov. Thiem and Dimitrov are among the four remaining players with one-handed backhands, joining Lopez and Pablo Cuevas. The unseeded Uruguayan meets Benoit Paire for a spot in his third ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final of 2017 (0 QFs in 28 prior ATP Masters 1000 appearances).

700-WINS CLUB (ALL PLAYERS)

Rank            Player                         Wins

1            Jimmy Connors                     1,256

2            Roger Federer*                     1,099

3            Ivan Lendl                              1,068

4            Guillermo Vilas                        929

5            John McEnroe                         877

6            Andre Agassi                           870

7            Rafael Nadal*                          836

8            Stefan Edberg                         801

9            Ilie Nastase                             780

 10         Novak Djokovic*                      766

11           Pete Sampras                         762

12           Boris Becker                           713

13            David Ferrer*                         699

* Active Player

Second seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan advanced to the Mutua Madrid Open quarter-finals with a 5-7, 6-2, 10-7 win over Fabrice Martin and Daniel Nestor on Wednesday. The Americans capitalised on both of their break point chances to reach the last eight in Madrid, where they will face Nick Kyrgios and Jack Sock.

Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, the third seeds, defeated Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-3, 7-6(4) in 82 minutes to set a quarter-final clash with sixth seeds Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin. The Frenchmen advanced with a 7-6(6), 7-6(3) win over Robin Haase and Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

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Ahead of the all-Madrid @ChampionsLeague showdown, @BrunoSoares82, @jamie_murray and @danielnestor ditched the rackets!#UCL #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/6DfHLr7LaH

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 10, 2017

Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo needed just 64 minutes to advance 6-3, 6-4 over Brian Baker and Nicholas Monroe. The fourth seeds await the winner of the match between seventh seeds Ivan Dodig/Marcel Granollers and Fabio Fognini/Treat Huey.

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