Tag: Madrid Open

Second seed Carlos Alcaraz extended his Madrid Open winning streak to a record-equalling 14 with a hard-fought victory over familiar foe Jan-Lennard Struff to move into the quarter-finals on Tuesday.

In a rematch of last year’s final at the Caja Magica, Alcaraz snapped Struff’s six-match winning streak with a 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/4) result to squeeze through to a last-eight clash with seventh seed Andrey Rublev.

Top-seeded Jannik Sinner has been dealing with a hip problem but managed to overcome Karen Khachanov 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 to reach his fourth Masters 1000 quarter-final in as many events this season.

Alcaraz, who missed Monte Carlo and Barcelona with a forearm injury, saved eight out of 10 break points and saw four match points come and go before he completed the two-hour 52-minute win.

“How much I’ve missed this! Quarters next,” wrote the former world number one on the camera lens after the match.

Carlos Alcaraz, who is now 24-0 on Spanish clay since the start of the 2022 season, is bidding to become the first player to win three consecutive Madrid titles.

After blowing a 2-0 lead in the second set, Alcaraz opened up a 3-1 advantage in the tiebreak, only to lose the next five points and go on to surrender the set to Struff, who came into the tournament on the back of a maiden ATP title run in Munich.

A break of serve in the fourth game of the decider gave Alcaraz the score cushion he needed but the two-time Grand Slam champion was broken while serving for the victory from 40-0 up at 5-3.

Struff saved four match points and the contest fittingly went to a deciding tiebreak. CarloAlcaraz let a 3-0 lead slip, but he got his hands on more match points by landing an inch-perfect lob and he closed on his fifth opportunity of the match.

“This match reminds me of last year’s. It was a great fight,” said Carlos Alcaraz after matching Rafael Nadal’s record winning streak in Madrid.

“It was difficult for me to deal with my emotions, to handle difficult moments. Serving for the match, it was really difficult for me to get broken after being 40-0 up, but I’m really happy that at the end it didn’t affect me and my mentality and I kept fighting.”

Sinner won 80 percent of points behind his first serve against Khachanov, hitting 35 winners to 29 unforced errors in the two-hour nine-minute battle.

The reigning Australian Open champion will face Casper Ruud or Felix Auger-Aliassime for a place in the Madrid Open semi-finals.

“For sure I’m not physically at 100 percent today. Tomorrow I have one day off, which can help me to get through,” said the Italian.

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Meanwhile, third seed Daniil Medvedev completed his full set of Masters 1000 quarter-finals reached by defeating Alexander Bublik 7-6(7/3), 6-4 to book a meeting with Rafael Nadal or Jiri Lehecka.

After grabbing the opening set tiebreak, Medvedev cruised to a 5-1 lead before Bublik halted his momentum and narrowed his deficit to just one game.

But Medvedev had a second chance to serve for the victory and this time he comfortably converted his first match point to make it to the last-eight stage or better at each of the nine Masters 1000 events.

On the women’s side, Iga Swiatek was made to sweat in her 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Brazilian lefty Beatriz Haddad Maia, as she dropped her first set of the tournament and needed two and a half hours to reach a second consecutive Madrid Open semi-final.

Swiatek squandered a 4-1 lead to lose the first set but the world number one struck back with a vengeance, cutting down on her errors to sweep the next eight games.

Haddad Maia stopped the rot to break Swiatek in the third game of the decider, but the Brazilian’s comeback attempt was short-lived.

Swiatek, 22, took four of the last five games to set up a last-four showdown with 2022 champion Ons Jabeur or American Madison Keys.

“I needed to stick to the tactics, because in the first set I started making too many mistakes. I started playing too fast,” said Swiatek.

“I just needed to really get back to basics and what I wanted to play today. It took me a while, longer than usual, but I’m glad that it happened after the set anyway.”

Swiatek has now reached the semi-finals at a WTA 1000 event for a 15th time –- the most by a player under the age of 23.

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Rafael Nadal said he is doing his best to “keep dreaming” after he extended his stay at the Madrid Open by winning a three-hour tussle with Argentina’s Pedro Cachin 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 on Monday.

Contesting his home tournament one last time before retirement, the five-time champion exchanged some warm words with Cachin at the net and gave the world number 91 a match shirt as a memento.

Nadal’s reward is a last-16 clash with the 30th-seeded Jiri Lehecka on Tuesday.

“Some moments good, some moments not good. I found a way to be through. I think in the third set with some mistakes I was still able to be a bit unpredictable,” Nadal said of his roller-coaster victory.

“Now I’m enjoying. Let’s see how I wake up tomorrow. Playing at home means everything to me, just try my best to keep dreaming.”

Since the start of the 2005 season, Nadal has lost just once in 163 matches against players ranked outside the top 50 on clay.

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Cachin’s two wins in Madrid Open this week were his first of the season, as he entered the tournament with zero wins from 11 matches contested in 2024.

But those numbers do not reflect the level showcased by the 29-year-old, who saved nine out of 18 break points against Rafael Nadal, and pushed the 22-time major champion to his limits.

In a dominant first set, Nadal fired 14 winners and made just nine unforced errors to take the lead in 47 minutes.

He recovered from a double-break deficit in the second set to force a tiebreak but couldn’t hold off another surge from Cachin, who converted his first chance to level the match and take it into a decider.

Nadal had two chances to go up a double break early in the final set but Cachin sidestepped both to hold and soon evened up the score at 2-2.

The Argentine could not hold his level though as Rafael Nadal found an opening once again and this time did not flinch, storming through to the fourth round on Cachin’s 41st unforced error of the match.

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World number one Iga Swiatek beat Wang Xiyu 6-1, 6-4 to reach the third round of the Madrid Open on Thursday as she bids to win the competition for the first time.

Earlier Coco Gauff sailed through to the third round with a 6-0, 6-0 thumping of Arantxa Rus, while Liudmila Samsonova ousted Naomi Osaka in three sets.

Runner-up last year, Swiatek bounced back from her semi-final defeat by Elena Rybakina in Stuttgart with a largely comfortable straight-sets victory.

The Pole, a four-time Grand Slam winner and an expert on clay, wobbled in the second set as Wang won three games in a row but recovered to triumph in one hour 16 minutes.

“I love this place — I got to know the city a little better last year,” Swiatek said. “So this time I feel more comfortable around.”

Madrid is the only major European clay tournament that three-time French Open champion Swiatek has yet to win.

Iga Swiatek coasted through the first set, breaking twice for a 4-0 lead. She wrapped up it up with another break, leaving Wang no chance of reaching her red-hot backhand return.

The Doha and Indian Wells winner took a 4-1 lead in the second set but Wang fought her way back in for 4-4, before the top seed steeled herself to hold.

Wang then handed the second set on a plate to Swiatek with two double faults, and the Pole will face 27th seed Sorana Cirstea in the third round.

Earlier Gauff, 20, earned the first ‘double bagel’ victory of her career in a WTA Tour main draw event in only 51 minutes against her 33-year-old Dutch opponent Rus.

The American saved four break points in the match to become the third player ever to win 6-0, 6-0 in the Madrid Open main draw.

World number three Gauff will face Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska next.

Samsonova brought former world number one Naomi Osaka’s return to clay to a halt with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka twice battled back from a break down in the second set to force a decisive third but world number 17 Samsonova eventually ground out the win.

Japanese star Osaka returned to tennis in January after a long break and earned her first victory on clay for two years on Wednesday against Greet Minnen.

However Russian 15th seed Samsonova, whom Osaka beat at Indian Wells in March, was able to end a four-match losing streak with her victory in two hours 22 minutes in the Spanish capital.

Hard-court expert Osaka, 26, is not overly fond of the red dirt and has not won back-to-back matches on the surface since 2019.

She lost last week at the Rouen Open in France against Martina Trevisan in her first match back on clay but improved this week.

“I felt — I don’t want to say happy — I felt good that I was able to fight back,” said Osaka.

“I think it’s a big difference from my match in France, so I was happy that I learned from that match, but obviously really sad that I lost.”

Samsonova raced into a 4-0 first set lead, breaking in the first and third games as Osaka struggled.

“Honestly, it’s not the sliding part for me, it’s the touch,” said Osaka.

“I feel like I’m getting the balls, I’m just not really placing them well.”

Samsonova will face Madison Keys in the next round.

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MADRID: The 18-years-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz carried on his red-hot form to defeat his German counterpart Alexander Zverev to claim Madrid Open title, here on Sunday.

Alcaraz, who defeated the veteran Rafael Nadal and the World No.1 Novak Djokovic on his way to the final – becoming the first player to achieve this rare feat- thrashed Zverev 6-3, 6-1 to capture his second ATP Masters 1000 tile of the season.

TEEN TAKEOVER IN MADRID 🏆

Carlos Alcaraz wins his second ATP Masters 1000 title 👏

@alcarazcarlos03 | @MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/znQfSSg8bo

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 8, 2022

 

The Spaniard showcased his versatility and athleticism by outlasting Zverev with his persistent hitting for his eighth straight Top 10 victory and Tour-leading fourth title of the season.

Following this triumph, the 19-years-old became the second-youngest player to win two ATP Masters 1000 titles as he captured the Miami Open title in March. His countryman Nadal is still the youngest player to achieve this feat as he captured crowns in Monte Carlo and Rome in 2005 at an age of 18. Alcaraz is also the youngest ever player to win the Madrid Open.

The youngest EVER champion in Madrid 🏆

Take a bow, Carlos Alcaraz 👏

@alcarazcarlos03 | @MutuaMadridOpen | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/wSJthgQysB

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 8, 2022

 

Alcaraz is likely to reach a career-high No. 6 in the ATP Rankings on Monday after winning five tour-level tournaments.

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MADRID: The 18-years-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz avenged his country’s great Rafael Nadal with a 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 victory in a see-saw clash to set up a semi-final clash with the top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the ongoing Madrid Open.

Alcaraz, who suffered a second-round defeat in the 2021 Mutua Madrid Open against Nadal, bounced back to avenge his loss as the teenager displayed a resilliant effort to seal a scintillating victory over the 21-time Grand Slam champion.

Alcaraz survived a classic Nadal comeback and a painful second-set fall to win in a challenging two-hour, 29-minute clash on the clay.

In the first set, Alcaraz was untouchable, hitting 19 winners as Nadal battled to match the level and intensity of his opponent’s game. A mix of big baseline hitting and brilliant drop shots gained Alcaraz two more breaks as he raced to the first set victory.

The veteran, on the other hand, did not panic despite a strong start from his opponent and began to fire as he sensed a drop in Alcaraz’s level.

Nadal, who seemed favourite for his 12th appearance in the Madrid Open semi-finals, was denied the victory by incredible tenacity from his younger opponent.

The 18-years-old Spaniard will now lock horns with the top-ranked Djokovic in the semi-final as the two come face to face for the first time in an ATP tournament.

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MARBELLA: The British Tennis player Andy Murray withdrew from a much-anticipated clash with the top-ranked Novak Djokovic at the 11th hour due to illness.

Murray and Djokovic, who last met in the Doha final in January 2017 were all set to come face to face in a much-awaited clash in the Round of 16 of the Madrid Open but the British decided to give Serb a walkover after falling ill.

The former World No.1 Murray, who has been in exceptional form at the Masters 1000 tournament, has decided to end his Madrid Open campaign as the 34-years-old fell ill.

Taking to Twitter, the Madrid Open organizers made the major announcement of Murray pulling out of his Round of 16 match against Djokovic.

“Unfortunately, Andy Murray is unable to take to the Manolo Santana Stadium due to illness. We wish you a speedy recovery, [Andy Murray]”,” the MMOPEN wrote.

Unfortunately, Andy Murray is unable to take to the Manolo Santana Stadium due to illness 😔

We wish you a speedy recovery, @andy_murray! 😘

🏟️ Instead, Andrey Rublev and Daniel Evans will open the day's play on centre court. pic.twitter.com/0QdLyh7qhl

— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) May 5, 2022

 

Djokovic, on the other hand, will now face the winner of the Round of 16 match between Hubert Hurkacz and Dusan Lajoiv in the quarter-finals.

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MADRID: The Spaniard Davidovich Fokina outpowered South Africa’s top-ranked Tennis player Llyod Harris 7-5, 6-3 to reach the second round of the ongoing Madrid Open, here on Monday.

The Spaniard, who made it to the final of the recently concluded Monte Carlo Masters, last month, has started his Madrid Open campaign on a high as he handed a crushing victory, through the set without facing a breakpoint.

Fokina looked in great shape as he swept to victory by winning 89 percent of his first-serve points and converting two of his three breakpoints.

In another first-round match, Australia’s Alex de Minaur defeated his Spaniard counterpart Pedro Martinez 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 to further advance into the tournament.

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MADRID: Japanese Tennis star Naomi Osaka started her Madrid Open campaign in style as she crushed her Russian counterpart, Anastasia Potapova 6-2, 6-0 in the first round to make it to the second round.

Former World No.1 Osaka, who is playing her first match since her run to the Miami Open final last month, knocked qualifier Potapova out in the first round of the ongoing Madrid Open.

In her first clay-court encounter of the season, Osaka looked in great shape. The four-time Grand Slam champion, swept to victory by winning 86 percent of her first-serve points and converting five of her nine breakpoints.

The Japanese tennis player handed a crushing defeat to Potapova, who was on a winning streak and recently claimed her first Hologic WTA Tour Singles Title, through the second set without facing a breakpoint.

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WARSAW: The top-ranked Women’s tennis player Iga Swiatek has opted to withdraw from the upcoming Madrid Open, saying her body ‘needs rest’ after a frenetic schedule.

The 20-years-old Polish Tennis player Swiatek, who became the top-ranked player following the retirement of Ashleigh Barty earlier this month, has decided to withdraw from Madrid Open.

Swiatek was enjoying a delightful run as the top-ranked tennis star won the last four tournaments she played but her restless schedule forced her to withdraw.

Taking to Twitter, Swiatek announced her withdrawal from her first WTA 1000 event of the clay season.

“After intense last weeks and winning 4 titles in a row it’s time to take care of my arm that has been fatigued since the Miami Open and I haven’t had a chance to handle it properly,” she wrote.

“I need a break from playing so intensively in order to treat my arm well and that’s why, unfortunately, I have to withdraw from the Madrid Open. My body needs rest.”

🎾Unfortunately my team and I decided that I need to withdraw from Madrid. I hope to see you next year.
🎾Razem z moim teamem zdecydowaliśmy, że niestety wycofam się z turnieju w Madrycie. pic.twitter.com/SQ4lJUwhPd

— Iga Świątek (@iga_swiatek) April 27, 2022

 

It’s worth noting that Swiatek has already pulled out of a tournament due to exhaustion — the Charleston event in early April. She, on the other hand, is looking forward to competing in the forthcoming Rome event, which begins on May 9, as well as the 2020 French Open, which she won.

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