ATP

Nadal back from the brink to set up Madrid Open quarter-final clash with Alcaraz

By Sports Desk May 05, 2022

Rafael Nadal saved four match points before seeing off David Goffin 6-3 5-7 7-6 (11-9) to book his place in the Madrid Open quarter-finals.

A five-time champion in the Spanish capital, Nadal is looking to match Novak Djokovic's career record of 37 ATP Masters 1000 titles this week.

Returning to action for the first time since losing to Taylor Fritz in the Indian Wells final, after which he discovered he had a stress fracture of a rib, Nadal was taken all the way by Goffin.

Indeed, the Belgian qualifier won four straight games from 5-3 down in the second set to force a decider, but he saw four opportunities to advance to the quarter-finals go begging.

Nadal subsequently prevailed to reach his 99th Masters 1000 quarter-final, setting up a last-eight showdown with teenage compatriot Carlos Alcaraz.

Birthday boy Alcaraz, who turned 19 on Thursday, celebrated with a hard-earned 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 victory over Britain's Cameron Norrie.

Defending champion Alexander Zverev reached his fifth successive quarter-final at this event after beating Lorenzo Musetti, who retired with a thigh injury shortly after losing the opening set, at 6-3 1-0 down.

Next up for Zverev is Felix Auger-Aliassime, the Rotterdam Open champion, who is targeting a first clay-court Masters 1000 semi-final. Auger-Aliassime won 90 per cent of points on first serve in a commanding 6-1 6-2 victory over Jannik Sinner.

Stefanos Tsitsipas also produced a strong-serving display in his 6-3 6-4 triumph over Grigor Dimitrov. Last season’s French Open runner-up hit 10 aces along the way.

The fourth seed set up a showdown with Andrey Rublev, who had eight aces as he overcame Dan Evans 7-6 (9-7) 7-5.

Meanwhile, Hubert Hurkacz will play Djokovic in the last eight after hitting 16 aces in his 7-5 6-3 win over Dusan Lajovic. Djokovic's much-anticipated clash with Andy Murray was called off, with the Briton unwell, handing his Serbian rival a walkover.

Related items

  • Alcaraz aiming to turn 'motivation' into maiden ATP Finals crown Alcaraz aiming to turn 'motivation' into maiden ATP Finals crown

    Carlos Alcaraz said he arrives at the ATP Finals with "a lot of motivation" and is looking to make his mark in Turin next week. 

    Alcaraz, who claimed two grand slam titles at the French Open and Wimbledon this year, missed the event in 2022 after picking up an internal oblique muscle tear. 

    The Spaniard was then beaten in straight sets by Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, though the Olympic champion has since withdrawn from this year's tournament with an ongoing injury issue. 

    Alcaraz, however, enters the year-end competition with a win-loss record of 52-11, with only Jannik Sinner (12) claiming more top 10 wins in 2024 than the 21-year-old (11). 

    “Last year was a difficult end of the year for me,” Alcaraz said. “I could not play at my best.

    "The last two matches here were pretty good matches for me, but the previous two, three tournaments I didn’t play at my best, so I realised I had to change a little bit at this time of the year, which I did this year.

    “I come here a little bit different. I approach this tournament a little differently, knowing there are things I have to change if I am to have a good result here and go far.

    "Last year I didn’t start well from the first matches. I will try to play at the same level and will try to play good tennis. I am coming here with a lot of motivation.”

    Alcaraz was drawn in the John Newcombe Group at the ATP Finals alongside Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev.

    He will start against Ruud on Monday, but might face the strongest competition in the group from Zverev, who claimed his seventh Masters 1000 title at the Paris Masters. 

    Among the qualifiers for this year's event, Zverev (14) and Daniil Medvedev (11) are the only two to have recorded 10 or more match wins at the ATP Finals.

    Alcaraz and Zverev have faced each other 10 times, winning five apiece, though Alcaraz has won the last two, including at Roland-Garros in the French Open showpiece.

    “He is one of the toughest players in the world for sure,” Alcaraz said about Zverev.

    “I think I return pretty well but he has a really big serve and plays unbelievable from the baseline, which makes him a really tough opponent to face.

    “He has won more than 20 ATP Tour titles, lots of Masters titles. He wants a Grand Slam and I told him he is going to get it for sure.

    "At the end of his career he will get at least one, let's see if more.

    "He deserves it. He is a really hard worker. He has lifted the big trophies. I don’t like to face him because of his serves and shots, but I am trying to find the beauty of playing him.”

  • WTA Finals: Gauff sees off Sabalenka to set up Zheng meeting in showpiece WTA Finals: Gauff sees off Sabalenka to set up Zheng meeting in showpiece

    Coco Gauff saw off world number one Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets and is now just one win away from taking the WTA Finals crown.

    The American, who also beat Iga Swiatek on her run to the final, handed the Belarusian a second consecutive loss in Riyadh as she triumphed 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 in one hour and 49 minutes on Friday.

    The pair traded blows in the opening set, with Sabalenka getting the first break in the third game, only for Gauff to follow her lead in the next.

    The world number three forced the tie-break, and she had to hold her nerve to take the first set as Sabalenka had fought back from 6-1 down.

    Gauff's momentum carried her into a 4-1 lead in the second set but that run was halted despite valiantly defending six break points in the next as Sabalenka attempted to start a comeback.

    They traded more breaks, but Gauff had already done enough, avenging her defeats to Sabalenka in the Australian Open and Wuhan Open semi-finals to reach the championship match, where she will face Zheng Qinwen for the prize. 

    Data Debrief: Young guns pave the way

    It has been an impressive WTA Finals for Gauff so far, and this victory means she has become the youngest player to defeat the world number one and number two at the tournament since Kim Clijsters in 2002 (Serena and Venus Williams).

    She is also the youngest WTA Finals finalist since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.

    In fact, Gauff and Zheng will have the youngest combined age for the two finalists at the WTA Finals since Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams in 2004, at just 42 years and 271 days. 

    Sabalenka already knew she would be the year-end number one before entering these Finals, but she finishes the year on a slightly dour note, having lost consecutive matches for the first time since 2022 (against Donna Vekic in San Diego and Liudmila Samsonova in Guadalajara).

  • WTA Finals: Zheng edges Krejcikova to reach Riyadh showpiece WTA Finals: Zheng edges Krejcikova to reach Riyadh showpiece

    Zheng Qinwen was the first to book her place in the WTA Finals showpiece after downing Barbora Krejcikova in straight sets in Riyadh on Friday. 

    Zheng, who has dropped just one set throughout the entire tournament, needed an hour and 40 minutes to emerge a 6-3 7-5 victor against the Wimbledon champion. 

    The Olympic gold medallist wasted no time in stamping her authority on the contest, serving a love game straight away before breaking Krejcikova's serve soon after. 

    Zheng then missed two set points in the eighth game to take the early advantage, but remained composed, closing out the opener with another love game. 

    The world number seven threatened to run away with the contest after powering into a 3-0 lead in the second set, but Krejcikova responded emphatically. 

    She would go on to win the next four games, but made a fatal error when serving at 5-5, sending a forehand long which handed Zheng the opportunity to serve for the match. 

    After saving a break point, Zheng converted her second match point to book her place in the final, setting up a meeting with either Coco Gauff or Aryna Sabalenka. 

    Data Debrief: Age is just a number

    With a win-loss record of 52-17 this year, Zheng became the first Chinese player in the Open Era to notch 50 WTA-level victories in a calendar year. 

    At 22 years and 31 days, she is also now the youngest player to reach the final in their maiden appearance at the WTA Finals since Petra Kvitova (2011).

    Since the event's inauguration in 1972, she is only the second Asian player to reach the final at the WTA Finals after Li Na (2013).

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.