Barcelona Open: Rafa Nadal’s return meets tame end

Barcelona, April 17

Rafa Nadal’s hopes of winning the Barcelona Open for a 13th time were dashed today following a 7-5 6-1 second round defeat by Australian fourth seed Alex de Minaur.

The Spaniard was playing his first tournament since January and had made a winning return on Tuesday with his first round victory over Flavio Cobolli, but the 37-year-old was no match for the in-form de Minaur.

De Minaur began brightly, breaking in the opening game, but Nadal broke back to make it 3-3 before the Australian made the decisive break and held to take the first set, and had little trouble as he strolled to win the second. “I think about the only thing I might have on Rafa on clay is physicality at this stage of his career,” de Minaur said.

“I decided to try and make the rallies quite physical and long, use my speed to my advantage. It’s never easy against him.”

Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, managed to win just two points on de Minaur’s serve in the second set. After being beaten on the court which is named after him, the Spaniard was given a standing ovation as he made his exit. — Reuters

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