De Minaur dethrones Nadal 7-5, 6-1 at the Barcelona Open
On the court that bears his name at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, Rafa Nadal played his second tour-level match since competing in Brisbane in January. Having won this event a staggering twelve times the last in 2021, the former world #1 relished the opportunity to compete in his home country.
After winning his opening match against the young Italian Flavio Cobolli in straights, the twenty-two-time grand slam champion entered the stadium with a winning head-to-head against the Australian.
Alex de Minaur has had a standout season winning his first ATP 500 event in Acapulco and for the first time cracked the top ten at #9. Currently ranked #11 and seeded fourth in Spain, the twenty-five-year-old brought his best in their first tour-level meeting on the dirt.
Nadal won the toss and elected to serve. The lefty from Mallorca gifted three backhand errors and dumped serve…
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