Rafa's revenge! Rafael Nadal conquers Alex de Minaur in gritty Madrid battle

That had to feel good Rafa, no?

With King Felipe VI watching on Saturday at the Mutua Madrid Open, Rafael Nadal rose to the occasion for his most notable win of the 2024 season.

Taking on Alex de Minaur for the second time in as many weeks, Nadal avenged his Barcelona defeat with a 7-6 (6), 6-3 victory in the second round of the ATP Masters 1000 event. His win over the world No. 11 is Nadal’s first against a Top 50 opponent in the three tournaments he’s entered so far this year.

“Very important for me to be able to compete the whole match with a good level of tennis, and the body [held] well for a little bit over two hours,” Nadal said in his post-match press conference.

“It was a great test, and now let's see how I wake up tomorrow. That's the thing. So super happy.”

While Nadal enjoyed promising 2-0 start, he immediately relinquished the initial break in a game that presented an unplanned source of frustration. At 15-30, he was not permitted to challenge a call by Fergus Murphy, as the veteran chair umpire didn’t feel the Spaniard was decisive enough in his decision to stop the point. Upon seeing the replay, which showed the Aussie’s shot was out, Jim Courier felt Murphy made the right decision. Nadal would lose serve two points later.

Throughout the opening set, the home favorite was pushed in his service games with free points few and far between. At 3-3, a miscue at the net saw Nadal fall behind 0-40—and De Minaur would capitalize on the next point when his backhand caught the line to trip up Nadal. But the No. 10 seed couldn’t consolidate the advantage, as the left-hander went right back to work in leveling the scoreboard.

In the tie-break, Nadal let out his emotions after finishing off a 27-shot rally with a crosscourt backhand winner. The 37-year-old stretched his lead to 6-2, but De Minaur would bring it all the way back to 6-6 by showing off tremendous defensive skills. When they changed ends, Nadal unloaded on another crosscourt backhand, kissing the tape and line. De Minaur was unable to wipe away a fifth set point, pushing a forehand long to end the set after 76 minutes.

Nadal managed to back up an early break this time around when he held from 30 for another 2-0 start in set two. His serve speeds dropped set over set, but not considerably enough to make an impact. Nadal recovered from 0-30 to reach 4-2, with his crosscourt backhand once again coming through as a stinging finishing shot.

One final brilliant backhand passing shot set up two match points for Nadal. On his second chance, the 22-time major winner crossed the finish line when De Minaur double-faulted. After shaking hands, Nadal was treated to echoing chants of "Ole! Ole! Ole!" throughout Manolo Santana Stadium from an appreciative fanbase.

“I never will have the chance to thank enough all the people here in Madrid for everything that they gave to me during all my tennis career, no, and today was a very emotional one,” said Nadal.

For a spot in the round of 16, Nadal meets Pedro Cachin, a 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-4 winner over 20th seed Frances Tiafoe. Prior to his opening victory over Sebastian Ofner, Cachin had been winless in 10 tournaments this season and on a 15-match losing streak overall across all levels.