Norway's Casper Ruud into Madrid Open last-16 after dominant victory over Britain's Cameron Norrie; Rafael Nadal won a third set decider vs Pedro Cachin in a match that lasted over three hours; watch continued coverage of the Madrid Open live on Sky Sports
Tuesday 30 April 2024 08:05, UK
Britain's Cam Norrie is out of the Madrid Masters after a third-round defeat to Casper Rudd, while Rafael Nadal survived a scare to win a three-hour epic against Pedro Cachin.
Norway's Ruud cruised to an opening 6-2 set success in just 31 minutes, breaking Norrie three times as the Brit struggled to deal with the power he was facing.
The second set proved more even, as Norrie claimed the first break of serve, only for Ruud to respond quickly and then break Norrie a second time, wrestling back the momentum for an impressive 6-2 6-4 victory in the Spanish capital.
In front of an adoring home support, Nadal beat Argentina's Cachin 6-1 6-7 6-3, recovering from a surprise second-set tiebreak defeat to win the crucial third set.
Ruud will next face Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last 16 stage, while Nadal will face the Czech Republic's Jiri Lehecka.
"I had good moments, some bad moments. I somehow found a way to get through," Nadal said afterwards.
"In the third set, even with some mistakes, I was able to be unpredictable and that changed the match. I'm enjoying playing, let's see how I wake up tomorrow.
"Playing at home means everything to me. Tomorrow is another day to keep dreaming and playing in front of this amazing crowd, that means everything to me."
Elsewhere in the men's singles, top-seeded Jannik Sinner was not at his best but had enough to defeat Pavel Kotov 6-2, 7-5. Sinner, who has been dealing with a hip issue, will face 16th-seeded Karen Khachanov.
"I have been struggling a little bit with my right hip," Sinner said. "We're trying to find a solution and I don't think it's anything serious. Sometimes I feel it more like today and some days are a little bit better."
World No 4 Daniil Medvedev dropped the first set against American Sebastian Korda but hit back to win 5-7 7-6 (4) 6-3.
He will face Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, who beat up-and-coming American Ben Shelton in three sets, in the last 16.
Defending women's singles champion Aryna Sabalenka ended No 13 seed Danielle Collins' winning streak at 15 matches as she came from behind for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win.
Collins had a 5-4 edge in aces, but Sabalenka saved seven of 11 break points and broke Collins' serve six of nine times. Collins, a 30-year-old who plans to retire at the end of the season, had begun her streak by winning the WTA 1000 event in Miami and followed that up with a clay-court title in Charleston.
Collins led 4-3 in the second set before Sabalenka found a new gear, winning the next six games in a row. Sabalenka's quarter-final opponent will be Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, who upset 12th-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini 7-6 (2), 6-4.
Earlier, Iga Swiatek remained in with a chance to claim a first Madrid Open title with a comfortable 6-1 6-0 victory over Sara Sorribes Tormo.
The top-ranked Swiatek won the last 12 games of the match and dropped just five points in the second set, advancing to the quarter-finals in the only major European clay tournament the Pole has yet to win.
Swiatek, who lost last year's Madrid final to Sabalenka, will next face 11th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia, who defeated fifth-seeded Maria Sakkari 6-4 6-4.
Eighth-seeded Ons Jabeur also eased to a 6-0 6-4 win over Jelena Ostapenko.
Coco Gauff, bidding to become world No 2, lost to fellow American Madison Keys 6-7 (4) 6-4 4-6.
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