Nadal beats Popyrin and takes the quarters in Madrid

Rafael Nadal’s adventure at the Mutua Madrid Open continues, with intact options to be proclaimed champion for the sixth time in the capital. The Spanish tennis player, the only representative of the Navy alive in the table, clearly beat Alexei Popyrin (6-3, 6-3) in a match in which he went from less to more, adapting to the game of his rival until condemning him to clear defeat, one more than one rival of Rafa on clay courts. It was not the match in which Nadal shone the most, victim of some unforced errors and points of great merit from Popyrin. However, the sensations of the number two in the world were at all times sober, without trembling at the blows of his rival, until he finished him in just over an hour and a quarter of the game. Rafa is already in the quarterfinals, where the winner of the duel between Dan Evans, Djokovic’s executioner in Monte Carlo and the dangerous Alexander Zverev, champion in 2018, awaits him, after the strange victory against Alcaraz, which transcended beyond the victory for the duel itself generational with his theoretical successor, Rafa jumped to the center court of the Caja Mágica, again in the main schedule and against an emerging tennis player like Popyrin, who had clearly defeated Jannik Sinner, the main member of the new litter of the NextGen. The Australian is a tall tennis player, who touches two meters and without much baggage on the ground, but the height of Madrid made him dangerous. Rafa in his land, the beaten and the native 🇪🇸 @ RafaelNadal | #MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/0a6U1hvxLP – #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) May 6, 2021 The daring of the Aussie player was about to give him an unexpected reward as soon as he started.The first seven points of the match were his against a surprised Nadal, but who was able to come back to avoid the break and take the advantage in the third game, a great dispute for the enjoyment of the fans. From there, and with a break in his pocket, Rafa went on to dictate the rhythm of the match, solved with a resounding 6-3 in which he obtained double booty. First set for him and the chance to start serving in the second, with Nadal accelerating to get into the quarterfinals, Rafael had stepped on the gas and Popyrin was paying him despite his efforts to stay on the track. In a new dictatorial game to the rest, Nadal made good the predictions and placed himself with a favorable 3-0 in the second set. The meeting was a monologue by a superior player, before another talented one who he managed at will. The feeling is that the result was not more bulky because the Spaniard was comfortable on the track, without having to step on the accelerator, and that if he had needed it, he would have put one more gear to prevent the eventual dominance of Popyrin. victory, Nadal could not again break the service of the Australian giant, who did a good job against the king of the land, but he could do nothing to avoid giving up in the ninth of the second set, putting an end to his presence in the box of the Mutua Madrid Open while Nadal continues to advance with a firm step in search of the final on Sunday.