Rafael Nadal emerges on top in a crazy match against Alex de Minaur, avenging his ‘Demon’ and sending fans into a frenzy!

Vengeful Rafa gets the better of De Minaur, filling supporters with happiness.

Rafael Nadal emerges on top in a crazy match against Alex de Minaur, avenging his ‘Demon’ and sending fans into a frenzy!

Alex de Minaur and Rafael Nadal (via IMAGO)

In a drama-filled and exciting match, Rafael Nadal earned a hard-fought victory over Alex de Minaur in the second round of the Madrid Open. It took him over two hours and an argument with the umpire to come through 7-6(6), 6-3 against an opponent who had gotten the better of him just last week.

In the first set, Rafael Nadal went up a break after taking Alex de Minaur‘s very first service game. At 2-0, on his serve, Nadal had a confrontation with the chair umpire Fergus Murphy, after the latter denied him a challenge. A riled-up Rafa asked for the supervisor but this request, too, was denied and he ended up getting broken right back by the Australian. Following this, the two went neck and neck, taking the set to a tiebreak in which Nadal came out on top, winning two crucial points at 6-6 to take the set.

The second set was much quicker, with Nadal going up an early break again and not losing a game on his serve. At 5-3, the Spaniard served broke serve again in convincing fashion, hitting some incredible backhands to seal the deal. This secures him a spot in the third round, where he will face Pedro Cachin of Argentina, who upset the 20th seed Frances Tiafoe.

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Fans ecstatic after Rafael Nadal’s triumph over Alex de Minaur

The ATP’s social media pages wasted no time in announcing the news of Nadal’s dominant victory over the Demon. With a good chunk of the match being worthy of a highlights reel, some handpicked shots from the Spaniard gained traction as they showed glimpses of his vintage self.

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal (Via Imago)

Fans took to the comments sections as well as X to convey their happiness, with some humorously saying that the performance was not bad for someone ranked 512 in the world. Others expressed their hopes that this win would increase the chances of Nadal participating in the French Open, as he announced earlier in the week that he would only take part if he felt competitive and fit. Here are some of the reactions:

https://twitter.com/RafanForeverOle/status/1784272459241259029

Nadal’s match today has also garnered some negativity towards him, with many tennis enthusiasts calling him a bully for arguing with the umpire, and others who stood by this notion saying that the umpire made the right decision. Despite this, the responses have been overwhelmingly positive and the fans can’t seem to get enough of the Spaniard in his farewell run.

Some professional players have also given Rafa some high praise and his compatriot Carlos Alcaraz is the prime example of this. Earlier today, Alcaraz mentioned that he cannot imagine tennis without Nadal and surely, millions would agree.

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