“Gracias Rafa”: Rafael Nadal, who is attempting a final return to the forefront at almost 38 years old despite his battered body, said goodbye to Madrid on Tuesday evening, eliminated in the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 organized in the Spanish capital. The Spaniard with 22 Grand Slam titles, who is living his last season on the ATP circuit – barring a twist – lost to the young Czech Jiri Lehecha (31st) 7-5, 6-4 in just over two hours.
“It was a joke, next year I’ll be back!” joked “Rafa” during the tribute paid to him following his match. “It was the last time I played” in Madrid, he then confirmed. “It was a very special week for me, very positive on several levels. An unforgettable week.”
Four matches in six days
Madrid wanted to believe it until the end on Tuesday evening. Even when her favorite has just been broken at the start of the second set, the “Caja magica” shouts: “Si se puede, si se puede”, the Spanish equivalent of “Yes, we can”, chants She. And in almost every game, she resumes her haunting refrain. Once again, more beautifully and with a standing ovation, when Lehecka is about to serve to win the match. “Come on Rafa, we’re in no hurry,” said a spectator a little earlier, at almost midnight. But no, for the Mallorcan left-hander, that is no longer possible.
A fourth match in six days, the second in two days after a duel lasting more than three hours the day before, it’s too much. Too much, for his second tournament since his resumption (after Barcelona in mid-April), after almost two years without his body giving him any respite, after another three months on the sidelines between January and April.
Other matches planned
His week in Madrid, with three matches won in a row and four played, including one against a top 20 player (De Minaur), nevertheless increased his mileage considerably: he had not experienced such a series of victories since the summer 2022. Will it provide him, at least in part, with the guarantees he wants in the run-up to Roland-Garros, in less than a month (May 26-June 9)?
We’ll have to wait to find out. Nadal is now expected in Rome (May 8-19), for the last Masters 1000 on ocher before the Parisian Grand Slam. He will only decide after the Italian tournament on his coming to Roland-Garros, the beloved land of his 14 triumphs, he confirmed Tuesday evening.
He has clear ideas: he will only play in Paris if he feels “ready enough”, he repeated throughout the Madrid tournament. “Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense,” he said. Up to 5 games throughout the first set, Nadal did more than hold his own: he was even the most dangerous, twice leading 0-30 on Lehecka’s serve and obtaining the first break point of the game, 5 games to 4 – in vain.
“Thank you for all these years”
Lehecka then scored ten consecutive points and pocketed the first set. Nadal’s luck had passed, the combativeness which made his legend not gone yet. He ended up losing in a little over two hours, with a final backhand mistake. It was three past midnight. “Gracias Rafa,” the screens around the court displayed.
“Thank you for all these years of emotions. We love you,” could we read on a Spanish flag hanging from a railing of the stadium. “You gave me a gift during these 21 years (in Madrid) perhaps more important than winning a Grand Slam tournament,” compared Nadal. “The emotions I experienced on this court, in front of the Spanish public, will stay with me forever.” From Wednesday afternoon, the Spanish public will be able to console themselves with the new winning face of Iberian tennis, Carlos Alcaraz.
The world No. 3 and double title holder narrowly escaped, 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/4), against the German Jan-Lennard Struff, in a repeat of the 2023 final. For a place in the last four, he will face world No. 8 Andrey Rublev. “Carlitos” makes his return to Madrid after a month without competition: his painful forearm deprived him of the start of the season on clay (Monte-Carlo and Barcelona).
Jannik Sinner (2nd) is also in the quarter-finals. Not Alexander Zverev (5th) nor Casper Ruud (6th). The poster for the first women’s semi-final is known: it will pit world No.1 Iga Swiatek, a set lost (4-6, 6-0, 6-2) on Tuesday against the Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia (14th), to the American Madison Keys (20th).