Sebastian Baez capped a dream week at the Millennium Estoril Open with one of his most dominant performances of the tournament to claim his first ATP Tour title. Playing in his second tour-level final, the 21-year-old defeated Frances Tiafoe, 6-3, 6-2, in the championship match. 

The Argentine collapsed to the court in celebration as he capped the week of his life by winning the last five games of the final. During the trophy ceremony, he shared his thoughts during that moment: “A lot things, a lot of words,” he said, “but I think we best words were ‘so proud’.”

Baez’s victory caps a banner day for young stars on the ATP Tour following #NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune’s maiden tour-level title in Munich earlier on Sunday. The Argentine was a semi-finalist at the 2021 Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals, but just misses the cutoff for eligibility this year due to turning 22 on 28 December.  

After entering the week at a career-high ATP Ranking of No. 59, Baez is projected to rise into the top 40 on Monday.

In the Estoril final, Baez dropped the first two games of the match and saved three break points to avoid going down 0-3. But after holding serve in a six-deuce game — the longest of the one-hour, 14-minute contest — he sprinted to a 5-2 lead before closing out the opening set with ease. It was a similar story in set two, with Tiafoe unable to cope with the aggressive tennis from his opponent.

“I started so nervous. He started good, I think,” Baez assessed. “After the third game, it was so important for both. I started to play better…. The key was trying to be in the game every time, try to think what I had to do, and that’s the difference today.”

Baez defeated three former champions on his way to the final: Jaoa Sousa in the opening round, Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals and defending champ Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the semis. Alongside sixth seed Ramos-Vinolas, he also beat third seed Marin Cilic and fifth seed Tiafoe.

Tiafoe provided inspiration for Baez throughout the week after the Argentine noticed his bracelet which reads “Why not me?” Baez wrote those words on the camera lens after his victories this week. After his title-clinching win, he wrote “Yes it’s me” alongside his signature.

“Unbelievable job by Sebastian. He deserved it. He played better than me today,” Tiafoe said during the ceremony, before addressing the Portuguese fans. “I just want to thank you guys, honestly. You guys made it an unbelievable week for me. I played some crazy, crazy matches and I hope you guys really enjoyed it. I tried to give everything I had this week. Unfortunately I didn’t have much today, but you guys were unbelievable. I hope I can come back for many years and we can keep putting a show on this court. It’s one of my favourite courts to play in.”

After receiving the trophy, Baez said to Tiafoe: “Why not me? And why not you, man?”

The Portuguese doubles duo of Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral made the most of a wild card into the Millennium Estoril Open by winning the ATP 250 title on Sunday. The 25-year-olds defeated Maximo Gonzalez and Andre Goransson, 6-2, 6-3, in the championship match.

“It’s an unreal feeling winning on home soil,” Cabral said during the trophy ceremony. “First ATP event, first main draw, first title with Nuno, my childhood best friend. I couldn’t be happier.”

“Thank you for everybody who made it here to make this moment a little more special than anything I had before,” added Borges, addressing the home crowd.

Both making their ATP Tour debut this week, Borges and Cabral improved to 5-0 as a team at tour-level events following a Davis Cup victory earlier this season. They are 13-1 across all levels on the year, winning two ATP Challenger Tour titles in Oeiras in April, and finished the 2021 season on a 15-match winning streak at the Challenger level. The pair won six Challenger titles and reached two finals last season.

The duo did not face a break point in the Estoril title match while converting on three of their eight chances. From 2-2 in the opening set, they won eight of nine games to take command on centre court.

After winning a pair of Match Tie-breaks to open their Estoril campaign, Borges and Cabral knocked off top seeds Jamie Murray and Michael Venus in straight sets in the semi-finals before their dominant final performance.

Spaniard Rafael Nadal has played down his title expectations ahead of the Mutua Madrid Open as he prepares to return to the ATP Tour after a six-week injury layoff.

The World No. 4 will be aiming to clinch his sixth trophy at the ATP Masters 1000 event in the Spanish capital. Due to a rib injury, he has not played since Taylor Fritz ended his perfect season in the Indian Wells final in March.

“I have improved compared to when I arrived here [in Madrid], but I still have ups and downs, because it’s been a long time. It’s going to be a difficult week,” Nadal said. “That’s the reality. We have to be calm, we have to accept that things are going to be far away from perfection, but then onwards we just have to fight. I’m recovered. I feel good.

“It’s a very tight tournament for me,” Nadal added when asked about his preparation time. “We will have to take the positives and perhaps I will have good moments playing on court. We have to have some patience. We have to be humble day after day to see what happens. I will try to improve every day.”

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While the 35-year-old has found the timing of his injury setback frustrating, he stated that his body has now recovered. Nadal will face Alexander Bublik or Miomir Kecmanovic in his opening match and is seeded to meet #NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in a blockbuster quarter-final.

“It’s difficult when you have these injuries in the middle of the season, it’s difficult to recover. But my ideas are very clear,” Nadal said. “I know that the moment has been negative. A goal for me is to be able to accept what happened and be able to play as best as possible. I know it’s going to be difficult, but I’m also confident. I know that things started very well at the beginning of the season.”

The Spaniard captured a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and also clinched trophies at the Melbourne Summer Set and Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC in the opening two months of the season.

Although Nadal is pleased with his career-best start to a year (20-1), he is, like any great champion, focusing on the future. Triumphing in Madrid would draw him level with Novak Djokovic on a record-equalling 37 Masters 1000 crowns.

“In our sport, there is not much time to think about Australia anymore,” Nadal said. “Australia was amazing, without a doubt, one of the most emotional moments in my tennis career. But during the past month, I was thinking about my injury.

“It is not a sport that you have time to celebrate a lot of victories if you want to keep being competitive for the next couple of events, and that’s what I try to do, even like this.”

Holger Rune became an ATP Tour winner for the first time on Saturday, after his opponent Botic van de Zandschulp was forced to retire in the final of the BMW Open by American Express in Munich.

Van de Zandschulp led 4-3 in the opening set with Rune serving at 40/15 when the Dutchman retired due to an aching chest. Both eighth-seeded van de Zandschulp and wild card Rune had reached their maiden tour-level final on debut at the ATP 250 event in Germany.

“This was probably the worst way to win a final,” said Rune after the match. “I was obviously expecting a very tough match and he came out very strong. I just wish him all the best, a speedy recovery, and we all just hope to see him back on the court very soon.”

The run to the title caps a memorable week for Rune, who turned 19 on Friday. With the win, the Dane becomes the third-youngest Munich champion in the Open Era, and the fifth first-time winner on the ATP Tour in 2022. He notched a maiden Top 10 victory against World No. 3 Alexander Zverev in the second round, also seeing off Jiri Lehecka, Emil Ruusuvuori and Oscar Otte in straight sets on his way to the title.

“I’m super happy, of course,” added Rune. “As I said, not the way I want it to end, but if I look through the week, what a week. I played some unbelievable tennis, really fighting my way through it. To be playing here in Munich and winning my first ATP title in front of such a brilliant crowd, I couldn’t really ask for more.”

It is the 20th anniversary of the Mutua Madrid Open, which has developed into one of the premier events on the ATP Tour. Today Spanish tennis is widely considered a force, with players who will be remembered as legends. But the turning point for the Armada can be traced back to the tournament’s arrival in Madrid two decades ago.

Carlos Moyà became their first man to reach No. 1 in the ATP Rankings in 1999 and the Spaniards claimed their first Davis Cup in 2000, putting the country firmly on the global tennis map for the first time since its great pioneers wielded their wooden racquets. With four-time Grand Slam champion Manolo Santana as the project’s visible figurehead, the city of Madrid purchased the licence that was then owned by Stuttgart to bring the event to the Spanish capital. The city had itself a Masters Series competition (then the name of the ATP Tour’s top-tier tournaments) in October.

Forming part of the indoor swing, played on hard courts in the Rockodrome in Casa de Campo, a picturesque corner of the Spanish capital, the tournament bolstered Spanish tennis’ international clout. It was one of nine Masters Series on the men’s calendar. One of the most powerful nations on the courts finally had an event to match in the ATP Tour’s top category.

Countless greats graced its courts at the turn of the century. Following in the footsteps of its first champion, Andre Agassi, Madrid became accustomed to watching legends of the game play season after season. In 2003, Juan Carlos Ferrero entertained his home fans as the world’s No. 1 player and greatness was becoming a genuine part of the collective Spanish imagination. From then on, the stars kept returning to Madrid.

In 2005, Rafael Nadal, a 19-year-old teenager starting out on his path to glory, earned his first Madrid title with an epic comeback in the final against Ivan Ljubicic. In 2006, Roger Federer entered the winners’ circle in a reflection of the calibre of the tournament. The first seven editions on hard court served to establish Madrid as a mainstay event and one of the biggest and most coveted titles on the men’s professional calendar.

A fundamental change for the tournament came in 2009. With the restructuring of the ATP Tour and the arrival of the ATP Masters 1000 category, Madrid took a giant step towards its current state. In a country with a long tradition on clay, the tournament moved from October to May and from hard court to the red dirt in the heart of the European clay swing. Madrid took the spot that had been occupied by Hamburg since the 1970s, ratifying its position as a key stop on Tour.

In addition, in a move that grew the tournament beyond the boundaries of the ATP Tour for the first time, the event added a women’s competition. That made the Mutua Madrid Open one of the world’s biggest mixed events.

Another key step came two years later. The altitude of Madrid, at almost 600 metres above sea level, has always given the event its own unique characteristics. The added ball speed complicates ball-striking for players who favour an attacking game. This peculiarity led Madrid to move its start date forward, to the week before the Rome tournament, in order to provide a more similar setup immediately before Roland Garros.

Madrid had fashioned four facets that are key for the success of any tournament: tradition (with a decade of history now behind it on Tour); an ideal surface for fans who were used to watching clay-court tennis; a favourable position on the calendar and, perhaps most important of all, a first-rate venue in the Caja Mágica.

At a time when Madrid was making a strong bid to host the Olympic Games, with candidacies presented for 2012 and 2016, a majestic sports complex was erected on the banks of the River Manzanares. Boasting three stadiums with retractable roofs and the stunning 12,500-capacity Manolo Santana Stadium as its centrepiece, flanked by the Arantxa Sánchez Stadium (3,500 seats) and Stadium 3 (2,500), Madrid had itself a venue that was the envy of the Tour and was able to complete every year’s competition with scant concern for the weather.

The Mutua Madrid Open had become an iconic event for the Spanish capital, with an annual economic impact of more than 100 million euros, preserved by the various governments that have occupied the City Council. In a city that is home to some of the world’s best sports clubs, tennis had firmly laid its foundations and elevated its position in society.

If the event is known for one thing, it is its willingness to innovate and convert a traditional sport into an opportunity for fearless innovations. In 2012, the momentous arrival of the blue clay was a burst of creativity on the circuit, breaking the mould of the classic red clay and generating a revolution for television broadcasts. Better contrast between ball and court made Madrid the focus of the world’s attention in an edition that was dominated by the huge talents of Federer, the only player to have won the tournament on three surfaces (indoor hard court, red clay and blue clay).

In a country with a long tradition of sporting heroes, the legend of Nadal has outshone them all. With a total of five crowns, the Spaniard has managed to adapt his greatness to the special conditions of Madrid. From earning his first crown on the indoor courts as a teenager to his four titles on the Caja Mágica clay (2010, 2013-14, 2017), the Balearic Islander has been an essential driving force behind the Mutua Madrid Open’s status as one of the biggest events in Madrid. The packed stands of the Madrid Arena and the Manolo Santana Stadium have witnessed the arrival, consolidation and maturity of a global sports icon.

Alongside the feats of the Mallorcan, some of the greatest champions of the modern era have dominated the event. Federer (2006, 2009, 2012) and Novak Djokovic (2011, 2016, 2019) have won the tournament three times, and Andy Murray (2008, 2015) and Alexander Zverev (2018, 2021) have accomplished the feat twice, showing the title is only within reach of the greatest of talents.

Over its 20 years of history, the Mutua Madrid Open has sought to define itself through attention to detail and determination. In the 2019 season, Feliciano López took the baton from Santana as the tournament director. Santana’s great legacy includes achieving one of his main goals when the event began in 2002 — having a tournament worthy of the greatness of Spanish tennis. From then on, with Santana becoming the Honorary President, the responsibility lay on the shoulders of López, still an active player and one of the most experienced on Tour.

As two great decades of tennis come to a close this week, Madrid has a huge party to look forward to and a great future ahead of it. Having recently signed a deal with the Madrid City Council to hold the tournament until at least the 2030 season, Santana’s dream will continue to deliver with the same verve as it has done since its early years.

FIVE MEMORABLE MUTUA MADRID OPEN MOMENTS

A Historic Semi-final
Nadal and Djokovic produced an unforgettable, record-breaking match in the 2009 Mutua Madrid Open. In the first edition played on the Caja Mágica clay, the Spaniard and Serbian played the longest three-set match of all-time. Their battle lasted four hours and three minutes with Nadal emerging victorious 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(9). The magic had commenced in Madrid.

Nalbandian Does The Impossible
In 2007, David Nalbandian achieved one of the greatest feats in ATP Tour history. When Madrid was still held on indoor hard courts, the Argentine got his hands on the trophy by beating the top three players in the ATP Rankings — No. 2 Nadal, No. 3 Djokovic and No. 1 Federer — consecutively, in three days. Nalbandian is still the only player to have defeated Nadal, Djokovic and Federer in the same tournament.

^{Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images}
Rafa’s First Win In Madrid
In 2005, aged 19, Nadal showed Madrid the spirit with which he would go on to build his legend. Under the roof in Casa de Campo, in a stadium packed to the rafters to support him in his first final in the city, the Balearic Islander made a seemingly impossible comeback against the Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3) to claim his first title in Madrid. “It’s been the best week of my life”, Nadal said at the time.

The Big Three Dominate
Nadal, Djokovic and Federer have made Madrid a hotbed for their conquests. They are the only players who have won at least three titles in the Spanish capital and their stats leave little room for doubt. Since the tournament moved to the Caja Mágica, they have managed to win 11 of the titles, including the first six editions on clay.

Nadal Meets Alcaraz
The 2021 edition witnessed an emotional moment, the significance of which will only become clear with the passing of time. On his 18th birthday, #NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz faced Nadal for the first time in an official match, much to the delight of the Madrid fans. A packed Manolo Santana Stadium witnessed a potentially iconic moment for Spanish tennis. It was another page to add to the Mutua Madrid Open’s golden book of history.

Rehab following knee surgery is preventing Roger Federer from lighting up the ATP Tour at the moment, but it is not stopping the 103-time tour-level titlist from delivering off the court.

In his role as President of the Roger Federer Foundation, the Swiss this week visited Malawi to show his support for efforts being made to provide some of the most vulnerable children in the African nation with access to formal education.

The 40-year-old met children, caregivers, teachers, and parents involved with the School Readiness Programme, an initiative launched in 2020 by his foundation in partnership with local organisations. The programme is currently working with 900 community-based childcare centres, helping them collaborate with local stakeholders to push for improved access to formal early education for children living in poverty in the nation of nearly 20 million people.

The long-term goal of the School Readiness Programme is to reach 2,500 community-based childcare centres in Malawi by 2026.

Federer also met with the Malawian government’s Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Services to officially hand over 3,000 “early-learning kiosks”, which are tablets with pre-loaded apps, tools and guides designed to help caregivers improve participation in organised learning.

“Wonderful to see that we are having a real impact on the ground with the @rogerfederer.foundation,” Federer wrote on Instagram. “Access to quality early education is crucial as it is the foundation of all learning. I am so happy I made my way to Malawi.”

Did You Know?
The Roger Federer Foundation, founded in 2003, aims to support educational projects in southern Africa and Switzerland. It has impacted the lives of more than 1.98 million children, with School Readiness Programmes also being implemented in Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The Foundation has been working in Malawi since 2011 and has since invested $18 million into educational projects in the country.

Federer was named the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year in the ATP Awards in 2006 and 2013.

– All photos courtesy of the Roger Federer Foundation by Jens Honoré

Maximo Gonzalez and Andre Goransson had not played with or against each other before this week, but that has not bothered the unseeded team. The Argentine-Swedish duo reached the Millennium Estoril Open final on Saturday.

Gonzalez and Goransson defeated fourth seeds Raven Klaasen and Ben McLachlan 2-6, 7-6(7), 10-6 in the semi-finals. It was the second time they needed to battle through a Match Tie-break this week.

In the final, home favourites will be waiting. Portuguese wild cards Nuno Borges and Francisco Cabral continued their dream run with a 6-2, 6-4 victory against top seeds Jamie Murray and Michael Venus.

Borges and Cabral are certainly confident, having won eight ATP Challenger Tour titles together in the past 12 months. Neither had played an ATP Tour doubles match before this week.

Krawietz/Mies Maintain Hot Streak In Munich
Two-time Roland Garros champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies continues their hot streak on Saturday when they defeated Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara 7-5, 6-3 to reach the final of the BMW Open by American Express.

The Germans have won seven consecutive matches dating back to the start of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, an ATP 500 event they won last week. Krawietz and Mies will play Rafael Matos and David Vega Hernandez for the Munich crown.

Frances Tiafoe produced one of the comebacks of the 2022 season so far at the Millennium Estoril Open on Saturday night, saving three match points on his way to a dramatic victory against Sebastian Korda.

The fifth seed trailed 4-6, 2-5 in the semi-final at the ATP 250 event before rallying for a 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4 win to the delight of an enthralled crowd in Portugal. Tiafoe now has the chance to banish the memories of his straight-sets defeat to Joao Sousa in the 2018 championship match when he takes on Sebastian Baez in Sunday’s final.

The Tiafoe-Baez final clash will be the culmination of an intriguing story that has played out this week in Portugal. Throughout the tournament, Baez has written “Why not me?” on the television camera’s lens after his wins. The positivity has worked ⁠— the Argentine surged past defending champion Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-0 on Saturday to leave him just one victory from claiming his first ATP Tour title.

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So where did Baez’s motto come from? The Argentine and his coach, Sebastian Gutierrez, had seen Tiafoe wearing a bracelet with ‘Why not me?’ written on it and liked it so much that the 21-year-old started writing it on screen as part of his post-match routine.

“He told me that in the locker room a couple of days ago,” said Tiafoe when asked about Baez’s inspiration. “I’ve been wearing it so long, I didn’t even know what he was talking about.

“After he won today, I said ‘Why not me?’ to him again. It’s cool. Any kind of inspiration, that stuff matters, it goes a long way. I think belief in yourself is the biggest thing. It doesn’t matter if everyone else around you doesn’t believe in you. If you don’t believe in yourself, it’s tough to go far in life.

“Obviously that kid has a lot of belief in himself, but I hope he doesn’t believe too much tomorrow!”

Tiafoe made the early running in his match against eighth-seeded Korda, opening up a 3-1 lead, but Korda broke twice to recover 2-4 and take the opening set and then surged to a 5-2 lead in the second as he stayed solid behind his groundstrokes to soak up his opponent’s aggressive play.

Tiafoe has been wearing a second bracelet with the inscription ‘Prove them wrong’ in Portugal, and the World No. 29 channelled that mantra to come soaring back into the match as his explosive groundstrokes began to find the lines. The 2018 finalist saved three match points on the way to forcing a second-set tie-break, one at 2-5 and two at 4-5. With momentum behind him, Tiafoe took the tie-break 7/2 to the delight of the Saturday night crowd.

Even after establishing a 4-1 lead in the deciding set, closing out the match proved difficult for Tiafoe as Korda overcame his mid-match lapse to level at 4-4. There was time for one final twist, however, as Tiafoe broke to love in the 10th game to extend his lead in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series to 3-0.

“I knew it was going to be really tough, Sebastian has been killing everybody this week,” said Tiafoe. “I knew he was going to be fresh and have a lot of legs. I came out pretty good, but I went on a bad streak serving. This crowd definitely kept me in it, for sure.”

Sunday’s clash with Baez will be the first tour-level final of 2022 for Tiafoe, who lifted his sole ATP Tour trophy at Delray Beach in 2018.

Like in Tiafoe’s win over Korda, there was match point drama for Baez in his semi-final too. The Argentine was relieved to recover from missing two match point chances in the second-set tie-break to clinch the win.

”I just tried to continue the game [after the second-set tie-break],” said Baez. “Maybe he played a little bit better, but I knew if I continued the level, it was so close. I made two big mistakes in the tie-break, and I paid [for them]. In the third set Ramos was more tired than me, so I tried to [use] that.

“The first match point, he served well. The second, I had one easy ball so [that’s something] to take and do better tomorrow, because it’s a final. It’s always difficult, so I have to do it like today, but better.”

Baez has needed three sets in three of his four matches this week at the Portuguese ATP 250, but has looked strong when it has mattered most. Baez won a jaw-dropping 75 per cent of his return points against Spanish veteran Ramos-Vinolas in the deciding set to triumph after two hours and 35 minutes.

The Argentine, who is at a career-high No. 59 in the ATP Rankings, held match point at 6/5 and 7/6 in the second-set tie-break. On his first chance, he missed a return. On his second, this time serving, he ripped an aggressive inside-out forehand wide.

But that misstep did not come back to haunt Baez. Although Ramos-Vinolas forced a decider, he was unable to maintain his level in the third set. Baez also defeated Ramos-Vinolas in this year’s Santiago semi-finals before losing to Pedro Martinez in the final.

Reporting contributed by Marcos Zugasti.

Rafael Nadal has now earned 1,048 tour-level wins, the fourth-best haul in the Open Era. But while his quest to grow his legacy and surpass the 1,068 victories of third-placed Ivan Lendl continues, we take a look back at how it all began. Today is the 20th anniversary of Nadal’s first match win on Tour.

It was 29 April 2002 on a clay court in Mallorca. Bartolome Salva-Vidal, better-known as Tomeu Salva, remembers it like it was yesterday, because he was Nadal’s doubles partner at the event and witnessed his friend’s win over Paraguayan Ramon Delgado, then No. 81 in the ATP Rankings.

“When I saw him playing on court, I thought ‘Rafa is superior’. And I wasn’t surprised to see him win,” Salva said in a conversation with ATPTour.com.

Despite losing his own singles match on the adjoining court, Tomeu was as happy to see his friend’s score as if it were his own. “I was delighted. And even though Rafa was my age and had never played these kinds of opponents because at the time his calendar was completely different, he was really superior in that match,” added Salva, who reached No. 288 in the world before becoming a coach.

Both Salva and Nadal received wild cards to play in the singles and doubles at that event. It was the first time for both of them playing tennis at that level, and they enjoyed it together from start to finish.

“Our memory of it is being so excited when they told us the news that we could play in an ATP tournament, and at home, on the island of Mallorca,” Salva said. “But as the competition drew closer, that excitement turned into pressure.”

That tension was evident when Nadal, then World No. 762, started losing his match against Delgado 0-2. The comeback and victory was generally met with astonishment. A local boy had just become the second-youngest player to win an ATP Tour match in the Open Era (after Richard Gasquet at Monte Carlo in 2002). Why was Salva one of the few people who were not surprised? Not just because of the superiority he saw in Nadal on court, but also because he had known him since they were seven years old, when Nadal beat him 6-0, 6-0 in the second round of a junior tournament in Mallorca.

After that, the pair grew up together. They were friends, occasional doubles partners and even played like one another. In fact, they are both left-handed and there are just five months between them. At the time, Salva knew of Nadal’s potential, which is why seeing him win the first main-draw match he played on the ATP Tour only confirmed that his own predictions for Nadal’s future were true.

“At the end of the day, Rafa is a genius, and geniuses never fail to surprise,” Salva said.

That Monday at the Nova Sport Club, the same day on which the national press announced that Sergi Bruguera was retiring, Spanish tennis had a new hope. The generational changing of the guard seemed to be complete with Nadal’s 6-4, 6-4 win over Delgado in one hour and 23 minutes, during which he converted five of the seven break points he earned.

“The difference between Rafa and the rest at that time was already clear,” said Salva, who is currently a coach at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar and a mentor of Jaume Munar and Casper Ruud. “In terms of tennis, he was already ahead of the rest of the players. The most striking difference was his mentality. He was already so competitive, a winner, so mature on court. He had very clear ideas at such a young age, when it’s so difficult to be clear about your future. Physique was also a difference. But mostly it was the mental side.”

Then came defeat in the second round to World No. 70 Olivier Rochus, and also in the first round of the doubles with Salva (l. to Adams/Aspelin). But the seeds were already sown. “I think we competed very well. The experience gave us a taste of the Tour, and we actually felt very comfortable playing in that tournament,” Salva said.

Twenty years have passed since their first tournament on the ATP Tour. Many things have changed since then. The courts where the event was held now form part of the Vilas Tennis Academy.

Ramon Delgado has been a business administrator for some time and Tomeu Salvà is one of the most renowned coaches on Tour. One thing that hasn’t changed is Rafael Nadal’s ambition; at 35 years of age and having spent 20 of them on the ATP Tour, he continues to aspire to earn the biggest titles in our sport.

Did You Know?
Rafael Nadal and Tomeu Salva reached two doubles finals together: in Chennai (l. to Malisse/Norman) and Barcelona (l. to Pavel/Waske) in the 2007 season.

The clay-court season rolls into the Caja Magica, where the world’s biggest stars will compete for an ATP Masters 1000 title at the Mutua Madrid Open.

Five-time titlist Rafael Nadal leads the way as he pursues a record-tying 37th Masters 1000 crown, while World No. 1 Novak Djokovic tops the draw. All eyes will also be on the rapidly rising Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz, who will try to make a deep run in front of his home fans.

ATPTour.com looks at 10 things to watch in Madrid.

VIEW DRAWS: SINGLES | DOUBLES

1) Rafa Returns: Nadal will chase his sixth title this week in Madrid, where he owns a 54-13 record. The lefty has not competed since Indian Wells due to a stress fracture in one of his ribs, so he will be keen to make a quick start to his clay-court season.

Before the injury, Nadal was the hottest player on the ATP Tour. The Spaniard has won 20 of his 21 matches this year, including a run to his record 21st major trophy at the Australian Open. Nadal’s most recent title at the Caja Magica came in 2017, and last year he reached the quarter-finals. He could face a stern test in his opener against in-form Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic or Kazakhstani Alexander Bublik.

2) Novak Rounding Into Form: Djokovic made a slow start to his clay-court season with an opening loss in Monte Carlo. However, the Serbian rounded into form on home soil at the Serbia Open in Belgrade, where he won three three-setters before falling in a deciding set in the final against Andrey Rublev.

The three-time Madrid titlist will try to carry that level to the Caja Magica, where he will begin his run against Frenchman Gael Monfils or wild card Carlos Gimeno Valero. If Djokovic faces Monfils, he will take a 17-0 lead in their ATP Head2Head series into that matchup.

3) Alcaraz Rising: Nobody has created more hype this season than Alcaraz, who last Monday cracked the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings for the first time at World No. 9. The 18-year-old — who turns 19 on 5 May — has received plenty of attention, including a recent appearance on famous Spanish talkshow El Hormiguero.

But the teen, who claimed his maiden Masters 1000 title in Miami, will be focussed on the task at hand, which is making a deep run in front of his home fans. Alcaraz will play Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili or Italian Fabio Fognini in the second round, with a blockbuster showdown potentially looming against Nadal in the quarter-finals if they both advance that far. The #NextGenATP star made his debut at the Caja Magica last year, when he defeated Frenchman Adrian Mannarino before losing to Nadal in straight sets.

4) Tsitsipas Flying High: Stefanos Tsitsipas will bring plenty of confidence to the season’s second clay-court Masters 1000 event after lifting the trophy at the first in Monte Carlo. The Greek star has also played well in Madrid before, having made the final in 2019 with three-set wins against Alexander Zverev and Nadal before losing to Djokovic. The 23-year-old will have to be sharp from his first match, which will come against one of two former Top 10 players in Karen Khachanov or Lucas Pouille.

5) Zverev Two-Time Champ: Zverev is a two-time champion at the Mutua Madrid Open, where his booming serve and comfort at the back of the court have combined for good results in the past. The German earned three consecutive Top 10 victories en route to the title last year, including a straight-sets triumph against Nadal in the quarter-finals. This edition he is the second seed and will begin his tournament against 2017 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters finalist Albert Ramos-Vinolas or former World No. 3 Marin Cilic.

6) Murray-Thiem Blockbuster: When the draw came out, one first-round match in particular stood out: a tantalising encounter between former World No. 1 Andy Murray and former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem. This will be the pair’s fifth ATP Head2Head clash, with each man winning two of their previous meetings.

Murray is a two-time Mutua Madrid Open champion, triumphing in 2008 (on hard) and 2015 (on clay). He last competed at the Caja Magica in 2017 and had planned to skip the clay-court season this year before taking a wild card into the event. Thiem made the Madrid final in 2017 and 2018, and is continuing his comeback from a wrist injury that kept him out for eight months.

7) Spaniards To Watch: All eyes will be on Nadal and Alcaraz, but there are other Spaniards to watch in Madrid. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina advanced to his first Masters 1000 final, while Pablo Carreno Busta and 2014 semi-finalist Roberto Bautista Agut are seeded 16th and 17th, respectively. Ramos-Vinolas, a four-time ATP Tour titlist, is always dangerous on clay and could play Zverev in the second round.

8) Dangerous On Clay: While they might not be at the very top of the favourites’ list in Madrid, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev, the fifth and sixth seeds, respectively, are dangerous players on clay. Ruud made the semi-finals at last year’s Nitto ATP Finals on a hard court, but he made his ascent off the back of impressive clay-court play. The Norwegian has claimed six of his seven ATP Tour titles on the surface, including a victory earlier this year in Buenos Aires. Ruud opens against Croatian Borna Coric or a qualifier.

Unlike Ruud, Rublev is known for his hard-court play with his booming groundstrokes, especially his forehand. But his game has translated well to clay, on which he has earned three titles, including one last week in Belgrade, where he upset Djokovic in the final. The second seed, who is making his second appearance in Madrid, will face Italian Lorenzo Sonego or British wild card Jack Draper in the second round.

9) Granollers/Zeballos Defending Champions: Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos are the defending champions in Madrid, but they will have to battle through a tough field if they are to retain their crown. The top seeds are Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, the recent Monte Carlo winners who have lifted two Masters 1000 trophies and two major crowns together.

10) Top 10 Singles Stars Playing Doubles: The singles stars are plentiful in the doubles draw, with five of the Top 10 players in the ATP Rankings competing. Alcaraz is playing with Marc Lopez, Tsitsipas with his brother Petros Tsitsipas, Zverev alongside Marcelo Melo, Rublev is partnering Karen Khachanov and Felix Auger-Aliassime is competing with 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov.