BARCELONA OPEN BANC SABADELL—Barcelona, Spain
Nadal Ousted in Second Round Action
Former world No. 1 Rafael Nadal suffered a second-round loss at the Barcelona Open on Wednesday, losing in straight sets to Alex de Minaur 7-5, 6-1.
After showing some signs of being competitive in the first set, Nadal lost nine of last 10 games of the match.
Tough finish for Rafael #Nadal. Loses 9 of last 10 games and falls 7-5 6-1 to Alex De Minaur in second round of the Barcelona Open, which #Nadal has won 12 times
Only 2d tournament in 15 months but lots of problems to solve and questions to ponder for the 37-year-old champion pic.twitter.com/KhAlw1gYCa
— Christopher Clarey ?? ?? ?? (@christophclarey) April 17, 2024
Nadal Hopes to Play Madrid
The 12-time former winner of the event is next slated to play at the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain. He has also not ruled out taking part in the Italian Open later in May. The Spaniard’s major goal is to compete at Roland Garros for the final time in his career.
Elsewhere, No. 3 seed Casper Ruud continued his good form by reaching the round of 16 over Alexandre Muller, 6-3, 6-4.
Later in the day, recent Monte Carlo champion Stefanos Tsitsipas will take to the court against Sebastian Ofner from Austria.
Tsitsipas, who now owns three Monte Carlo titles, made the finals in Barcelona in 2018, 2021 and 2023.
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BMW OPEN—Munich, Germany
Top seed Alexander Zverev cruised into the quarterfinals on Wednesday in Munich, Germany, dispatching Jurij Rodionov 7-6(3), 6-2.
Needing one hour and 40 minutes to prevail, Zverev will next face Alex Michelsen or Christian Garin.
In other results, No. 6 seed Jack Draper defeated home-country favourite Rudolf Molleker 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.
Draper will next face either No. 3 seed Taylor Fritz or Alejandro Moro Canes.
Thursday’s action in Munich will feature No. 2 seed Holger Rune in his first match of the week.
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TIRIAC OPEN—Bucharest, Romaina
Wednesday’s schedule in Bucharest saw No. 4 seed Alejandro Tabilo cruise into the quarterfinals, dismissing Arthur Rinderknech 6-3, 6-4.
Tabilo, who won in Auckland to start the year, also made the finals in Santiago, Chile in February.
The 26-year-old is up to a career high ranking of No. 41 in the world.
Elsewhere, Thanasi Kokkinakis was ousted by Gregoire Barrere 7-5, 6-3.
Thursday’s order of play in Bucharest will feature No. 3 seed Sebastian Korda.
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Watch all the action live this week from the ATP Tour on Tennis TV.
Get ready for the year’s second Major today, with great tickets to the French Open in Paris. Nadal is set to take part in his most successful event for perhaps the last time in his career.
