Madrid Open 2024 Day 6 Recap

On day six in Madrid, Rafael Nadal was back to entertain his home crowd, this time with a 3-hour battle against Pedro Cachin that he eventually won 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3.

Daniil Medvedev also had a tricky three-setter, finding a way past Seb Korda as he came from the brink of defeat to win through 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3.

Top seed Jannik Sinner moved through in straight sets, but it was far from plain sailing. A dodgy hip and some dodgy serving saw him drop serve three times and have to break back at 4-5 in the second to avoid a third set.

Casper Ruud continued his solid form with another win over Cam Norrie, and Sascha Bublik defeated the 14th seed to reach the last sixteen.

You can see the full set of results from day six below.

Day Six 2024 Madrid Open Round of 16 Results

Medvedev Overcomes Korda

Daniil Medvedev came through a tight one on Monday, staging a comeback against Sebastian Korda to win 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3 after being two points away from losing the match.

Korda has proven a tricky matchup for Daniil, and despite making 24 unforced errors, Medvedev excelled in critical moments, particularly when he saved his service game at 4-5, deuce in the second set. He then secured the match by breaking Korda in the eighth game of the deciding set, finishing after two hours and 23 minutes.

Medvedev now leads Korda 3-2 in their head-to-head, and he’ll face 17th seed Alexander Bublik next as he bids to make his first quarter-final in Madrid.

It was tough for many different reasons. He played well. The courts here, except the central court, are a bit smaller than I would like, so I play like someone is pushing me in the back. Even though my serve when I don’t need that much space, the feeling is still there like I am being pushed in the back. I need to get used to this feeling and try to find when to step in. I need to find my rhythm but both matches I played better and better. For sure the next one, if you play tougher and tougher opponents, I want to start like I played the third set. But if you win matches, you are happy. Medvedev on playing in Madrid.

Nadal Cashes In To Make Last Sixteen

Rafael Nadal had his toughest physical challenge of his comeback yet, and he passed with flying colours, overcoming Pedro Cachin 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3 in 3 hours and 4 minutes.

The five-time champion in Madrid showed some moments of his trademark brilliance against Cachin, particularly with his heavy topspin crosscourt forehand into the Argentine’s backhand in a one-sided first set.

Set two started with Cachin playing one of the most casual tweeners you will ever see, and I thought he’d given up. But from that point, he started to fight much harder, going up a double break with some rock-solid tennis.

Nadal recovered both breaks and even though Cachin failed to serve out the set after breaking again at 5-5, he played an impressive tiebreak to level.

In the final set, Nadal minimised errors and overwhelmed Cachin with dynamic play and stamina. After a three-hour battle, he looked physically robust. Can he recover quickly enough for his next match vs Lehecka tomorrow?

That’s uncharted territory post-comeback, but he’ll need to know it for Roland Garros. He has until ~10 pm local time to find out.

Some moments were good, some were not, but I found a way to go through them. In the third set, even with some mistakes, I was able to be a little more unpredictable, and that probably changed the match. I am enjoying it. Let’s see how I wake up tomorrow; I don’t know. Day by day I am enjoying playing at home, it means everything to me. I am trying my best to keep dreaming. Tomorrow is another day to keep dreaming. To keep playing in front of this amazing crowd and to me that means everything. Nadal on his win.

Sinner Slips Past Kotov

Jannik Sinner pushed through a hip injury and inconsistent serving to secure a spot his spot the fourth round of the Mutua Madrid Open, managing a 6-2, 7-5 victory over World No. 72 Pavel Kotov.

Before this season, I was always worried about the Italian in lengthy matches, but this year, he’s looked solid physically and has put on a fair bit of muscle.

However, in this match, he frequently stretched his hip while telling his team that it was hurting and that he was unsure what to do.

Despite visibly struggling, being broken twice in the first set, and being 3-5 down in the second set, Sinner somehow got through in straight sets.

He broke back at crucial moments and leveraged his greater experience to overcome the Russian, who had saved two match points against Jordan Thompson in his previous match.

I have been struggling a little bit with my right hip. We’re trying to find a solution and I don’t think it’s anything serious. Sometimes I feel it more like today and some days are a little bit better. I have a good team behind me and we’ll try to get my body going for tomorrow and we’ll decide tomorrow what’s best for me and what’s best for the body. Sinner on his hip injury.

Other Matches of Note

Bublik Stops Shelton: Two players who wouldn’t put clay at the top of their favourite surface list, but it was the Kazakh, who perhaps somewhat surprisingly, played slightly better in the crucial moments. Shelton exits, winning one more point in the match but only converting one of his eight break points.

Lehecka Leaps Past Monteiro: Monteiro was coming off a brilliant victory over Dtefano Tsitsipas, but he could not replicate that against Jiri Lehecka. The Czech came through 6-4 and 7-6(7).

Ruud Rallies Past Norrie: The Norwegian has had a stellar season and got the ATP 500 monkey off his back. He cruised to the first and then came from a breakdown in the second to dispatch the Brit.

Madrid Open 2024 Day 7 Round of 16 Matches