Madrid Memories: Rafael Nadal is the history-maker of the tournament

The Mutua Madrid Open is a young tournament, being born in 2002, but one player has written the history of the Spanish event: Rafael Nadal. Rafa won the title five times in Madrid, a record that none of his opponents was able to match in the 17-year history of the Mutua Madrid Open.

Nadal won his first title in 2005 when the tournament was still being played on indoor hard-courts in late October. On that occasion he defeated Ivan Ljubicic in five exciting sets, beating his opponent in the decisive tie-break of the fifth set, with the final score of 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3). With the 2009 reform, the tournament was moved to May and from that edition on, it was played on clay courts.

Rafa won in 2010 against Roger Federer, beating his rival in straight sets 6-4 7-6 (5), after a hard-fought challenge. The third title came in 2013 when he defeated Stan Wawrinka for 6-2 6-4. The following year Nadal won his fourth title, against Kei Nishikori. The Japanese won the first sets but he retired due to a physical problem in the third ones. Final score: 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 ret.

The last victory was in 2017, in the final against Dominic Thiem, in what is today the strongest rivalry on clay-courts. That year Nadal won a very exciting challenge 7-6(8) 6-4. A few weeks later he won his 10th French Open.

This is one of the memories of past days as the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the season's suspension over time. The tournament will not be relocated this season, but it will be played directly in 2021, not following the line of other events such as the French Open (or, Roland Garros) that have been rescheduled for the second half of 2020, after the US Open. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2XGWAYj