Rafael Nadal will face Alex de Minaur for the second week in a row, but his coach, Carlos Moya, expects a different match at the 2024 Madrid Open.
Nadal's Barcelona Open stay last week was ended by de Minaur, who thoroughly outplayed him in two sets. That was a very impressive display from de Minaur, who generally had no problems in the match.
In a weird twist of fate, they will also play this week at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid. Nadal once again won the first match, but his stay at the event will depend on whether he can beat the Australian.
It's a tricky matchup, but his coach, Carlos Moya, believes the match will be quite different from the one in Barcelona because Nadal wasn't prepared for that one.
"It will be a different match from Barcelona. There he did not see him prepared against a rival like Alex. I think tomorrow will be a little different. Without being ideal, I think we will see Rafa who has spent 8 days and that every minute he spends on the court is a minute of improvement. He has spent more hours on the court, he is now more fit."
Despite believing that the match will be different, that doesn't necessarily mean Nadal will win. In Moya's mind, he'll simply be better equipped to be competitive in that match than last week.
That's probably true, but Nadal still enters the match as an outsider. De Minaur has been one of the best players in the world this year while the Spaniard barely played.
"I think that tomorrow we can have a more competitive game than the other day. I don't know if he will win, but within the team we are more sure of what we can see. It will be better than what we saw last week."
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