Rafael Nadal, the 37-year-old twenty-two time Slam winner was prevailed upon in victory by 25 year old number 10 ranking 4th seed Australian, Alex de Minaur 7-5 and 6-1 in the Barcelona Open’s second round.
Nadal had begun his Spanish homecoming with a 6-2, 6-3 win Tuesday against Italian Flavio Cobolli. However, he was unable to keep up with de Minaur’s onslaught of speed and agility on the court, living up to his nickname “Speed Demon”.
De Minaur stated, “I think about the only thing I might have on Rafa on clay is physicality at this stage of his career. I decided to try and make the rallies quite physical and long, use my speed to my advantage. It’s never easy against him’.
In the first set Nadal took a 5-4 lead before losing nine of the next ten games. Nadal’s serve was broken five times by de Minaur in the match that enhanced de Minaur’s 2-3 head-to-head against the twenty-two times Grand Slam winner.
De Minaur won 75% (21 of 28) of the points on his first serve. Nadal only had 58% (29 or 50). The second serve ratios were 65% to 35% in de Minaur’s advantage.
Last Season for Nadal?
Last June Nadal had withdrawn from the Australian Open at Brisbane International that was followed with hip surgery for a muscular micro tear that was endured during a quarter-final loss to Jordan Thompson. Nadal had returned from an injury lay-off prior to the Barcelona Open.
Nadal had stated before his opening winning match against Flavio Cobolli, “It was a positive week of training and I’ll be on the court. It’s a gift to be here. I have a feeling that it will be my last time here and I want to enjoy it”.
He also stated, “I’m ready enough to play. It is what it is right now. I have to keep going day by day.”
Due to a persisting injury, Nadal pulled out of last week’s Monte Carlo Masters, saying “my body simply won’t allow me”.
This may be the end of an era as Rafael Nadal’s injury comeback was ended by Alex de Minaur for the twelve-time champion after the second round of the Barcelona Open.
Written by Bonnie Kilgore
