Rafael Nadal’s Cinderella run didn’t last long in the Barcelona Open 2024 as the Spanish legend suffered a second-round loss against Alex de Minaur. Being the hometown hero, Nadal was unsurprisingly receiving the unconditional support of the crowd at Barcelona. However, there were a few moments when the crowd displayed sportsmanship, cheering de Minaur for his spectacular play. One of the forehands played by the Aussie was widely appreciated but TennisTV received criticism for their Instagram post of the same rally.
At one point in the first set, during a Rafael Nadal serve, the 22-time Grand Slam winner was visibly in control of the tempo of the rally. The 37-year-old put his experience to show as he made Alex run from one end of the court to the other. At one point in the rally, it also seemed as though Rafa hit a forehand crosscourt winner. However, not giving up on the rally, Alex – one of the fastest players on tour – got to the ball and somehow hit a forehand winner of his own.
The World No.11’s shot did remind fans of the iconic Rafael Nadal forehand slap-shot that he himself entertained fans with many times during his distinguished career. Hence, TennisTV – a tennis media house run by the ATP Tour – captioned their Instagram post of the same rally as:
‘Giving Nadal a taste of his own medicine.’
According to tennis enthusiasts, the caption of the Instagram post seemed a bit disrespectful towards Nadal. For the same, the popular media house received flak.
With Alex de Minaur consistently improving his performance on clay, it won’t be surprising to see the 25-year-old pull off some unbelievable rallies like this one going ahead in the season.
Who does Alex de Minaur play at the Barcelona Open 2024 after defeating Rafael Nadal?
Alex de Minaur has had a terrific start to the clay court season. Defeating the likes of Stan Wawrinka, Tallon Griekspoor, and Alexei Popyrin, ‘Demon’ made it to the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters 2024 where he ultimately lost to Novak Djokovic 5-7, 4-6 in a close encounter.
Alex de Minaur used the momentum he was in to clinch a solid win against Nadal. Following his second-round win at the Barcelona Open 2024, the Aussie is now set to play against Arthur Fils in the third round in Spain.
Fils has been in great form, displaying a lot of promise over the past few months. However, Alex de Minaur will be expected to emerge victorious.
