Rafael Nadal overcame a big scare to seal his place in the last 16 of the Madrid Open in what could be the last ATP event he plays on home soil before retiring.
The former world No.1 started off in convincing fashing before enduring a taxing battle during his 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3, win. Nadal’s lacklustre victory extends his remarkable record against players ranked outside the Top 50 on clay since the start of the 2005 season. The Spaniard has now won 162 out of 163 of those matches.
Although it was a far from perfect performance from the five-time Madrid winner who hit 32 unforced errors compared to 36 winners and got broken four times. During certain stages of the match, he looked to be far from his best but managed to weather the storm with the help of his fierce fighting spirit.
“Some moments were good and some moments were not good. I found a way to get through,” Nadal told TennisTV afterwards.
“I think in the third set, even with some mistakes, I was able to be a little bit more unpredictable and that probably changed the match.”
Two days after claiming his first win over a top 20 player on the Tour in 18 months, Nadal looked sharp early on against world No.91 Cachin who came into the tournament on a 15-match losing streak. He worked his way through the opening set with relative ease by winning six out of the first seven games played without facing a single break point.
However, in the second set things started to unravel for the 22-time Grand Slam winner as his Argentine opponent seized his chance by breaking twice en route to a 4-1 lead. Cachin then had a chance to serve the set out but crumbled at the worst possible moment. Losing two set point opportunities by hitting a forehand error on both of them.
The rollercoaster battle continued with more below-par shotmaking from both men. Nadal ended up getting broken before breaking Cachin to love in the following game to force a tiebreaker. It was in the tiebreak when the underdog finally managed to come out on top by hitting back-to-back forehand winners to force a decider. In doing so he became the first player to ever beat Nadal in a tiebreak in Madrid.
Playing in front of a packed stadium, the noise of the crowd fluctuated throughout the encounter with some fearing Nadal might be on his way out of the tournament. However, this wasn’t to be the case as he battled towards the finish line after more than three hours of play. Sealing victory on his first match point after a Cachin forehand error.
“Now I am enjoying (his tennis) but let’s see how I wake up in the morning. I don’t know.” Nadal replied when asked his much of his experience in Madrid is pleasure compared to pain.
“Day by day I’m enjoying the fact that playing at home means everything to me. I just try my best to keep dreaming and tomorrow is another day to keep dreaming and playing in from of this amazing crowd. For me, that is everything.”
Nadal’s latest triumph at the Caja Magica coincides with the 22nd anniversary of his first Tour-level win at the 2002 Majorca Open when he beat Ramón Delgado at the tender age of 15. Overall, he has recorded 1,074 ATP wins which is the fourth-highest in the Open Era.
Nadal will play 30th seed Jiri Lehecka in the next round.
