Rafael Nadal’s bid for a record-extending title at the Madrid Open ended with an emotional defeat to Czech youngster Jiri Lehecka on Tuesday. The five-time champion, who is playing in Madrid for the last time, was outplayed by the 30th seed 7-5 6-4 in just over two hours.
Lehecka, who is making his debut at the tournament, played with great energy and determination, hitting powerful groundstrokes and serving well. Nadal, who was hoping to extend his winning streak in Madrid to 15 matches, was unable to match his opponent’s intensity and made too many unforced errors.
The defeat was a disappointing end to Nadal’s Madrid campaign, but the 36-year-old can take solace in the fact that he played some of his best tennis of the season on clay so far. He will now turn his attention to the Italian Open next week, where he will be aiming to win a record-extending 11th title.
In other news from the Madrid Open, Carlos Alcaraz continued his impressive form by overcoming a gutsy Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-4). The 20-year-old, who is aiming to become the first player in history to win three straight titles at the ATP Masters 1000 event, was pushed to the limit by the German but ultimately found a way to win in three sets.
Alcaraz will face either Andrey Rublev or Cameron Norrie in the semi-finals on Saturday.
In the women’s draw, world number one Iga Swiatek recovered from a set down to beat Brazilian 11th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 4-6 6-0 6-2 and move into the semi-finals. Swiatek, bidding for her third title this year, broke to lead 3-1 in the first set, but Haddad Maia bounced back to break twice, saving three break points in between to level at 4-4, and took the opening set.
That was the first set the Pole had dropped in the tournament, but she had an emphatic response, completing a bagel in the second set, where the Brazilian failed to force a single break point and Swiatek won two service games to love.
Swiatek continued in the same vein in the deciding set, breaking at the first opportunity to lead 2-0, and although Haddad Maia broke back immediately, the top seed won four of the next five games to complete her comeback.
Swiatek will face Madison Keys in Thursday’s semi-final, after the 18th seed beat Tunisian Ons Jabeur 0-6 7-5 6-1.
