Bad day for the Spaniards in the ATP draw of the Mutua Madrid Open, in which only the youngest, Carlos Alcaraz (17 years old), was saved from burning with his victory against Mannarino. The worst part was taken by Pablo Carreño, tenth favorite of the tournament, who lost in an incomprehensible way to the Argentine Federico Delbonis, which came from the previous one. Definitely, the Spanish Masters 1,000 is not good at Gijón, who has never passed the second round and goes home at the first exchange. Their loss was one of those that hurt because it came after winning the first set and with a 4-0 lead in the second. From there, he conceded a 12-3 partial until the final 3-6, 6-4 and 6-3 with which the meeting concluded without an audience, shortly before midnight. Delbonis will be the rival of Albert Ramos or Taylor Fritz, who face this Tuesday. A shame for Pablo, who came from being a finalist in Barcelona and winning before in Marbella.
Fognini prevents Taberner's comeback
Fabio Fognini put an end to Carlos Taberner's adventure at Mutua on Monday. The Valencian had qualified for the first time for the final table of the tournament, which was also his first Masters 1,000 with prestigious wins in the previous one against Jordan Thompson and Lorenzo Musetti, and first Ronda had to face a top of the Italian category, who beat him in trouble by 7-6 (4), 2-6 and 6-3 in 2h: 15.
Taberner forced the tiebreaker in the first set, successfully won the second and fought despite being far behind in the third (4-1). All in an environment conducive to him on the track Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, who vibrated with the good intentions and the brave play of Carlos, who climbed seven places in the world ranking, to 134. Fognini will face his compatriot Matteo Berrettini in the second round.
Andújar falls in the qualifiers duel
Pablo Andújar could not defeat Marcos Giron in a duel between players from the qualifying round that resulted in the American victory in three highly contested sets: 6-7 (8), 7-6 (4) and 7-5. Cuenca went 3-1 in the third set, but immediately lost the lead and Girón broke him in the eleventh game to close the win later with his serve. The winner will meet Dominic Thiem, third seed, in the second round.
Verdasco returns to Madrid with defeat
Out of shape even after spending four months almost without training and without playing, Fernando Verdasco arrived in Madrid with a baggage of two games that resulted in defeats in Miami and Estoril. and he couldn't do too much in front of a consummate and wheeled dirt specialist like Christian Garin. The Chilean beat him without excessive problems (6-1 and 6-4), although it is true that the Madrilenian had break balls to get to 5-4 and serve in the second sleeve. Verdasco thus ended his 18th participation in Mutua, a record that he will share with Rafa Nadal from now on. Garín will face Dominik Koepfer.
Results, table and calendar.