Rafael Nadal escaped elimination in the eighth final of the Madrid Masters on Thursday. The third-placed Spaniard survived four points for the match in Group C and was decisive against Belgium’s David Goffin. Nadal hit himself on match point two: 6-3 5-7 7-6 (9). The match lasted more than three hours.
Nadal returns to Madrid after six weeks of absence. The tennis player lost the Indian Wells final to Taylor Fritz in March, after which he was kept out for a long time due to a stress fracture of a rib. In the quarter-finals, Nadal will play compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated Britain’s Cameron Norrie: 6-4 6-7 (4) 6-3.
Nadal won the clay court championship in Madrid five times, winning the last time in 2017.
Zverev
Alexander Zverev also reached the quarter-finals. The 25-year-old German champion witnessed the retirement of his Italian opponent Lorenzo Mossetti after 39 minutes in the eighth final today. Zverev was leading 6-3 1-0 at the time.
The day before, Zverev had more problems against Croatian Marin Cilic (4-6, 6-4, 6-4). For a place in the semi-finals, he will face either Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime or Italy’s Yannick Sener, the current world number three.
Jaber
Tunisian tennis star Anas Jaber made history at the WTA Grand Prix in Madrid. Never before has an African tennis star reached the final of the so-called WTA 1000, the highest category among the major tournaments. Eighth seed Jaber had a few problems with Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia in the round of four. The score was 6-2 6-3 in 61 minutes.
The 27-year-old will compete in the final fight against the match winner between Jill Teichmann of Switzerland and American Jessica Pegola. These two players won’t meet until 9 p.m. Thursday through Thursday.
For Jaber, it is also the pinnacle of her career. Last year she reached the round of four in Indian Wells, just like Madrid in the WTA 1000. Then she lost to eventual winner Paula Padusa.
Jaber has not yet passed the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam tournaments.
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