Madrid Open—Madrid, Spain

Nadal Avenges Barcelona Loss to de Minaur

Saturday’s action at the Madrid Open featured five-time former winner Rafael Nadal advance to the third round, dismissing No. 10 seed Alex de Minaur 7-6(6), 6-3.

Needing two hours and four minutes to advance, Nadal struck 13 winners, hit zero aces and broke the serve of his Australian opponent on three occasions.

Losing to de Minaur last week in at the Barcelona Open, Nadal will next face Pedro Cachin for a place in the fourth round.

Cachin ousted American Frances Tiafoe in straight sets.

Elsewhere, recent Monte Carlo champion and Barcelona finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas was defeated, dropping his first match of the event to Thiago Monteiro, 6-4 6-4.

Other men’s results on Saturday saw top seed Jannik Sinner cruising into the third round, dispatching countryman Lorenzo Sonego 6-0, 6-3. Sinner will next face Pavel Kotov or Jordan Thompson. No. 3 seed Daniil Medvedev also advanced, defeating Matteo Arnaldi in three sets.

Swiatek Cruises in Straight Sets

On the women’s side, top seed Iga Swiatek rolled into the fourth round, dismissing No. 27 seed Sorana Cirstea 6-1, 6-1.

Swiatek will take on Sara Sorribes Tormo on Monday for a quarterfinal spot.

No. 5 seed Maria Sakkari and No. 9 seed Jelena Ostapenko were also victorious on Saturday.

Sunday’s action in Madrid will be highlighted by Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Alexander Zverev.

Watch all the action live this week from the Madrid Open on Tennis TV.