[ad_1]
Rafael Nadal He stepped in after noticing a medical emergency unfolding in the stands during his match against Pedro Cachin at the Madrid Open on Monday. The Spaniard faces Cachin in the third round after defeating Darwin Blanch and Alex de Minaur in his first two matches at the tournament.
Nadal made a strong start to the match, leading 5-1 in the opening set, before a medical emergency in the seventh game prompted a brief delay inside the Manolo Santana Stadium. A 37-year-old fan noticed he appeared ill in the stands and asked the umpire to get the man help before flagging him down.
A fan appeared to be suffering from vertigo in the Madrid heat. The match resumed shortly after, with Nadal wrapping up the first set in style by winning the next game. He was dominant against Cachin in the early stages of the contest, which could be a good sign ahead of next month’s French Open, but struggled more in the second set.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion won the match 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3. He will face Czech Republic’s Jiri Lehka in the next round tomorrow.
But it remains to be seen whether Nadal will feature at Roland Garros next month as he continues his recovery, plagued by injuries over the past two years. His impressive win over de Minaur showed he can still compete at his best, but there is no guarantee he will play at the French Open if there are still questions about his fitness.
Nadal is already in doubt about his participation in the next Grand Slam, having won on 14 occasions and cementing his ‘King of Clay’ status. Speaking ahead of the Madrid Open, he said, “If I come to Paris today like I thought, I won’t go on court, I won’t play, if I feel competitive I’ll play at Roland Garros, if I can play, I’ll play. If I can’t play, I can’t.”
He doubled down on his stance after defeating de Minaur, insisting there was no point playing in the French Open if he didn’t believe he could win the tournament. Asked for an update on his chances of playing in Paris, Nadal said: “I think the feelings of my body have improved a bit in the last few days, but not sure yet.
“I understand that some things are difficult to understand for people who are not in my team, but for me, Roland Garros is the most important tournament of my tennis career and I lived there, I enjoyed it, it remains in my heart forever.
“It’s not about losing or winning, it’s about going on the court feeling like I can fight and I can compete and, you know, let’s go on the court and dream about what could happen. So if I can’t. To go on the court and dream even if it’s at least, at least a percentage, I don’t make sense to go on the court, right?
“I want to stay with all the wonderful memories that I have. I want to be there and lose, but, you know, go on the court with a chance to dream about something significant, and if it happens, I will. If I don’t allow that to happen on the court, even if it’s super, super small, I Probably won’t go to court.”
[ad_2]