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After Great Start, Nadal Returns from Injury at Madrid Open

Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal (C) does the kick-off ahead the Spanish LaLiga match between Real Madrid and RCD Espanyol at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, 30 April 2022. (EPA)
Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal (C) does the kick-off ahead the Spanish LaLiga match between Real Madrid and RCD Espanyol at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, 30 April 2022. (EPA)
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After Great Start, Nadal Returns from Injury at Madrid Open

Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal (C) does the kick-off ahead the Spanish LaLiga match between Real Madrid and RCD Espanyol at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, 30 April 2022. (EPA)
Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal (C) does the kick-off ahead the Spanish LaLiga match between Real Madrid and RCD Espanyol at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, 30 April 2022. (EPA)

Back home, Rafael Nadal looks to resume his season where he left off before being sidelined by an injury that halted a great start to his year.

Nadal will seek his fourth title of the season this week at the Madrid Open as he returns to action following a rib stress fracture that kept him out for about a month.

Nadal had won his first 20 matches of the year before getting injured in the semifinals at Indian Wells. He made it to the final but lost to Taylor Fritz for his first defeat. Until then, it had been the third-best start to a season on the ATP Tour since 1990.

Nadal won the Australian Open for a record 21st Grand Slam title and also won in Melbourne and Acapulco. He missed tournaments in Miami, Monte Carlo and Barcelona because of the injury.

The 35-year-old Spaniard will be trying to win the Madrid title for the sixth time, and first since 2017, though he said last week he would have "few chances" of winning after arriving "with minimum preparation."

He will debut against either Miomir Kecmanovic or Alexander Bublik.

Nadal could face a semifinal against top-ranked Novak Djokovic, who has been trying to regain his best form after a slow start to the season.

A three-time winner in Madrid, Djokovic was coming off a runner-up finish in Serbia, where he won three three-set matches before losing the final to Andrey Rublev.

His first match in Madrid will be against either Gael Monfils or Carlos Gimeno Valero.

Another home-crowd favorite in Madrid will be young sensation Carlos Alcaraz, who made it to No. 9 in the world after titles in Rio de Janeiro, Miami and Barcelona.

The 18-year-old, touted by many as Nadal’s heir, could face his idol in the quarterfinals. He lost to Nadal in the tournament’s second round last year.

Alcaraz will begin his campaign against Nikoloz Basilashvili or Fabio Fognini.

Former world No. 1 Andy Murray, a two-time winner in Madrid, will be back at the clay-court tournament for the first time since 2017. He will face a marquee first-round match against former world No. 3 Dominic Thiem, a two-time finalist in the Spanish capital.

Thiem has been recovering from a wrist injury that sidelined him for eight months.

The 34-year-old Murray had earlier said he would skip the clay season but ended up accepting the wildcard invitation to play in Spain.

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Ruud Beats Draper in Madrid Open Final to Win his First Masters 1000 Title

04 May 2025, Spain, Madrid: Norwegian tennis player Casper Ruud celebrates winning the Madrid Open 2025 tournament at La Caja Magica. Photo: Alberto Gardin/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
04 May 2025, Spain, Madrid: Norwegian tennis player Casper Ruud celebrates winning the Madrid Open 2025 tournament at La Caja Magica. Photo: Alberto Gardin/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Ruud Beats Draper in Madrid Open Final to Win his First Masters 1000 Title

04 May 2025, Spain, Madrid: Norwegian tennis player Casper Ruud celebrates winning the Madrid Open 2025 tournament at La Caja Magica. Photo: Alberto Gardin/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
04 May 2025, Spain, Madrid: Norwegian tennis player Casper Ruud celebrates winning the Madrid Open 2025 tournament at La Caja Magica. Photo: Alberto Gardin/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Casper Ruud became the first Norwegian to win a Masters 1000 title after beating Jack Draper 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in the Madrid Open final on Sunday.
The former second-ranked Ruud rallied from 5-3 down in the first set and sealed the victory after capitalizing on his lone break at 2-2 in the third, The Associated Press reported.
The 26-year-old Ruud yelled and thrust both arms into the air after clinching the win on his first match point on the Caja Magica clay court.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Ruud said. “(This was) one of the really big goals I dreamed about when I was young, so it’s an incredible feeling to accomplish it. Also the way I did it today, it was a great match. I knew Jack had been playing unbelievable all year, and especially in this tournament, so I knew that if I didn’t bring my A-plus game, I was going to be whooped around the court."
The 15th-ranked Ruud will return to the top 10 thanks to his campaign in Madrid, reaching No. 7 in the rankings on Monday.
“Luckily, I played really well," Ruud said. "Jack has become such an incredible player, on any surface now ... This is a really big boost for me, and I would like to keep it going.”
The 13-time tour champion is the first Norwegian to lift a Masters 1000 trophy since the series was introduced in 1990, according to the ATP. It was Ruud’s third such final after losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo last year and to Carlo Alcaraz in Miami in 2022.
Ruud has more titles (12) on clay than any other player since the start of 2020, according to the ATP.
Draper won at Indian Wells in March. After his quarterfinal victory in Madrid, he secured a top-five debut in the rankings.
Draper said Ruud was “braver” than him in the key moments on Sunday.
“You deserve this,” he said. "You’ve obviously put in so much hard work and constantly had very good years on the tour ... This sport is brutal, but I think this loss is going to make me better, so I’ll keep trying.”
The tournament in Madrid was disrupted early last week because of a major blackout that brought Spain and Portugal to a standstill on Monday, prompting the postponement of 22 matches in total.
Ruud had needed to take a couple of painkillers during his semifinal win over Francisco Cerundolo after feeling a rib ailment during his warmup, but there were no signs of any injury on Sunday.
Draper, who like Ruud had not lost a set on his way to the final, served for the first set at 5-4 but couldn't finish it. The 23-year-old British player was visibly upset, and kept talking to himself and to his staff for a while during the changeover.
The men's side of the draw lost most of its top players early. Home-crowd favorite Carlos Alcaraz had to withdraw from the tournament because of an injury, and Novak Djokovic lost to Matteo Arnaldi in his opening match.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka defeated Coco Gauff in the women's final on Saturday.