Rafa is worn out and exhausted, but Swiatek keeps winning

Rafael Nadal’s body passed its most demanding test to yet at the Madrid Open, as he defeated Pedro Cachin, ranked 91st, in three sets and over three hours.

In the claycourt competition, where he is the record five-time winner, Nadal triumphed 6-1 6-7(5) 6-3 to go to the Round of 16. He showed no evidence of physical limits in this victory. Jiri Lehecka, rated 31st, will be his next opponent.

“In the third set, I took more chances, but it’s challenging after going so long without playing,” Nadal said. It had been a while since I had played a match like this. We’ll see how tomorrow goes. How I’m going to wake up is beyond me. However, I’m content that I’ve won three straight games.

Again, Nadal seemed at ease in the opening exchanges with Cachin. In the second set, the Argentine rallied, but when serving to win the set, she was broken twice. In the end, Cachin won the tiebreaker. In the last set, Nadal seemed more worn out than he had in the first. Although his shooting wasn’t as steady, he managed three breaks to secure the win and excite the home fans.

Daniil Medvedev had earlier overcome Sebastian Korda 5-7 7-6(4) 6-3 after coming back from behind. Iga Swiatek, rated number one, defeated Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-1 6-0 to keep herself on course for her maiden Madrid championship.

In the second set, Swiatek needed only five points to advance to the quarterfinals of the one major clay event in Europe that the Pole has not yet won. Next up for her is 11th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia, who triumphed 6-4 6-4 against fifth-seeded Maria Sakkari.

ranked eighth Ons Jabeur defeated Jelena Ostapenko 6-0 6-4, while Mirra Andreeva defeated 12th-seeded Jasmine Paolini 7-6(2) 6-4 to mark her 17th birthday.