Nadal enters QFs of Madrid Open, to face Stan Wawrinka

Speed Post News Network

Patna : World No 2 and five-time champion Rafael Nadal, 32, Spain, entered the quarter-finals of Madrid Open, Spain, after May 9, 2019, midnight, beating World No 37 Frances Tiafoe, 37, USA, in the third round.

Second seed and winner of 17 Grand Slam singles title Nadal beat Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals. Nadal fired 6 Aces in the match  besides breaking Tiafoe’s service twice. Nadal also won 3 games in a row in the match.His winning percentage both on his first and second serve (88% & 67%) was much better than that of Tiafoe (64% & 54%). Tiafoe had defeated World No 17 Nikoloz Basilashvili,  27, Georgia, in the first round on May 6.

It was Nadal’s second victory over Tiafoe in 2019. He will face winner of three Grand Slam titles including the French Open in 2015 Stan Wawrinka, 34, Switzerland, the World No 34, in the quarter-finals on May 11, 2019. Nadal leads Wawrinka 17-3 head to head.

World No 1 and top seed Novak Djokovic, Serbia, will face World No 11 Marin Cilic, Croatia, in the quarter-finals on May 10 at 3.30 pm while World No 3 Roger Federer, 37, Switzerland, will face World No 5 Dominic Thiem, 25, Austria, in the QFs at 8.30 pm the same day. World No 4 Alexander Zverev, 22, Germany, will play World No 9 Stefanos Tsitsipas, 20, Greece,  in the QFs at 11 pm on May 10.