Rafael Nadal, 37, has made the seemingly impossible possible more times in his career than any other player. The fact that he can win the French Open for the 15th time in just a few weeks still seems illusory.
He defended himself as best he could, but the Jiri Lehecka hurdle was too high for Rafael Nadal. During the round of 16 match at the ATP 1000 tournament in Madrid, the Spaniard repeatedly looked puzzled into his box and sought an exchange with his coaching team.
Lehecka’s straightforward and straightforward game paired with the strong serve (average speed for the first serve: 217 km/h) had its full effect in the “Caja Magica”. Nadal ultimately had no real chance of winning in this match.
And the longer this game would have lasted, the more the pendulum would have swung towards the Czech. In the past it was exactly the other way around, when Nadal really wore down his competitors and at some point broke their resistance.
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