Bautista and Davidovich leave Alcaraz and Nadal alone

Just 24 hours ago, Roberto Bautista left the Caja Mágica “very satisfied” after his overwhelming 6-0, 6-2 victory against Brooksby. He was the first game played by the castellonense in more than a month, as wrist problems forced a break, but his return was hopeful. Before the press, Bautista insisted that he “was only thinking about the next game”, aware that the duel against Daniel Evans, whom he had never faced, was a trap match. And what if it was.

Bautista, who admitted that it was on his arrival in Madrid last week that he began to hit in his training sessions, entered the game serious with his serve, but not very incisive to the rest. Precisely in the previous Roberto had highlighted the need to be successful to return the British’s hard serves, but that did not work in the first round. He ended up giving up his last two serves and the set, and things didn’t change much in the next few minutes. On Evans’ first five serves in the second set, Bautista only scored four points.

Evans pressed with the serve and Bautista suffered, managing to save three break balls against. Little by little, as if it were the first games of a season, the one from Castellón was warming up, and with 5-5 on the scoreboard he got his first break balls, taking advantage of the third of them. The match went to the third set, where both had opportunities that would end up tipping the balance. Evans had the first break balls, but the Spaniard saved them. Immediately afterwards, Bautista broke the Briton’s serve and also it became 0-40, one point away from putting the 2-5 on the scoreboard. He wasted it, although he kept the lead and came out to serve to win the game, but he gave up his service and since then, Bautista has been disconnected. A thrown Evans took advantage of that, euphoric at each point won, and in the final tie-break he prevailed by a clear 7-2. The British, who has won two games in a row for the first time since January, It is already in the round of 16, where the Russian Rublev is waiting.

Same tragic end for Davidovich

The finalist in Monte Carlo landed in Madrid driven by his great result in the last Masters 1,000. Nevertheless, the draw provided a tough second pairing for Alejandro Davidovich. While Rafa Nadal monopolized the attention in the Caja Mágica with his debut and Carlos Alcaraz had just taken a mass bath in the doubles, the third Spaniard alive in the individual draw He came out onto court 3, where Hubert Hurkacz was waiting. The conditions of the Mutua Madrid Open, marked by the altitude, favor the style of play of the Pole, who is a great server.

The first set was marked by the opportunities wasted by the man from Malaga, who did not consume any of the four break balls he had. Instead, when Davidovich served to make it 5-5, Hurkacz surprised and took the first set. The Spanish was more successful than the rest in the second set, finding an answer to the Polish cannon shots. In this way he managed to force the third and last set, where Davidovich fell short, but quickly remedied the situation with a counterbreak. Like this third set, the final tie-break was marked by equality, with Davidovich trying to find the cracks in a rocky Hurkacz. It couldn’t be, and it was the Pole who finally took the cat to the water in a game that could have fallen for either side. In this way, Alcaraz and Nadal are the only Spanish representatives alive in the men’s box. Hurkacz is already waiting in the round of 16 for Dusan Lajovic, who surprised Casper Ruud today, fifth favorite of the tournament, 7-6(7), 2-6 and 6-4.