Nadal Handily Passes Kyrgios Challenge
Nadal Handily Passes Kyrgios Challenge
Goffin defeats Raonic on Thursday
The third-round match at the Mutua Madrid Open between fourth seed Rafael Nadal and 16th 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.