Alex de Minaur has earned a triumph he will never forget by beating the king of clay Rafael Nadal on what may well have been the great man’s final appearance on his own court at the Barcelona Open.
Nadal may not have been at his sharpest on his tentative return to action after injury in only his second tournament in 15 months but nothing should detract from how de Minaur outplayed the 12-time champion on the Pista Rafa Nadal at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona on Wednesday.
De Minaur was rapid, ruthless and relentless in his 7-5 6-1 win and even if this, of course, wasn’t the all-conquering Nadal of old, the 37-year-old is still a hell of a force on the red clay and Australia’s No.1 played a supreme match, consigning the Spanish colossus to death by drop shot.
Dominating from the start even in the face of an emotional wave of support behind Nadal, de Minaur simply played one of his best matches on any court to dismantle the 14-time Roland Garros champ.
Becoming the first Australian in 13 attempts ever to beat Nadal on clay, he’ll now be looking to have another run in Barcelona like his 2022 march to the semi-finals, his best-ever display on the red stuff.
For Nadal, though, it may be the last match he ever plays on the court named in his honour as he’s made it clear this is probably going to be the final season of his glorious career.
De Minaur showed the utmost respect in not over-celebrating his win as Nadal received a standing ovation on leaving the arena.
But on the very first point of the match, when de Minaur slipped in an unanswerable drop shot, it had been clear there was no room for sentiment here.
It was a shot the 25-year-old repeated five times successfully in just the first three games alone and consistently thereafter to get his venerable and vulnerable opponent on the run, breaking Nadal’s delivery in the first game and four times subsequently.
There was a spell in the middle of the first set when Nadal’s old majesty saw him battle back into the fray but there were far too many unforced mistakes emanating from his rusty racquet – 42 in all – for him to threaten a man who increasingly is looking someone to be reckoned with on clay.
At one point in the first set, a flashing forehand winner at full stretch off a Nadal howitzer had the Spaniard tapping his racquet in appreciation as he recognised how this new version of de Minaur, who’d beaten him in the United Cup on a hard court last year, is a threat on any surface these days.
The key game came at 5-5 when de Minaur stepped up a gear, went on the attack and broke to love, then going on to serve out the set after a run of 11 unanswered winning points.
By early in the second set, Nadal looked frazzled and well beaten, and he was quick to acknowledge the Australian’s mastery by congratulating him warmly at the net.
De Minaur will next play rising 16th seed Arthur Fils or German Daniel Altmaier in the last-16.
On a good day for the Sydneysiders, Jordan Thompson also made it into the round of 16, defeating Spain’s clay-court specialist Jaume Munar 6-4 2-6 6-4. He’ll next play Norway’s third seed, Casper Ruud.
Source Agencies
