The “true test” saw Rafael Nadal taste the dust by the hands of Alex De Minaur in the round of 32. While many were saddened, some rushed to question Stefanos Tsitsipas, as he “anointed Rafael Nadal as favorite to win” the Barcelona Open title. However, since Rafa is now off the board, the Greek player responded with a new list of “3-4 players” who will fight for the title. 

Almost every tennis fan desperately wanted Rafa to win his second appearance in the 2024 Barcelona Open. However, he had extremely bad luck when his clash with Alex De Minaur was fixed. The Aussie player sent him packing in straight sets, rubbishing Tsitsipas’ prophecy. As he learned of Rafa’s exit, Tsitsipas said, “I don’t mind being wrong, I’m not here to bet or make predictions.”

Further Stefanos’ words carried some worries regarding Rafa’s health issues in the past which has certainly affected the former World N0. 1’s run in a tournament which saw him win 12 titles in his career. “Rafa has had some injuries in the past but he always comes back, especially in Barcelona, it’s his favorite tournament, it’s at home.”

He further talked about the match with Minaur and shared two names he thinks now have a chance to win the ATP 500 tournament. “Today I saw a bit of the match, De Minaur played very well. I would say the favorites are De Minaur, I… 3-4 players will fight for the title.” 

While Stefanos didn’t mind being wrong in his prediction, a British-Canadian former tennis player, Greg Rusedski’s bet cum warning proved to be true. While at one hand, the former World No. 4 praised Nadal for an impressive win in the first round against Flavio Cobolli, he warned Rafa of “true test” that lied ahead.

“Very impressive from @RafaelNadal having not played a competitive match in such a longtime. Wasn’t tested and movement looked solid . His next match versus DeMinaur will be a true test of where he is really at physically,” tweeted Greg on Tuesday.

With this victory, De Minaur became the first Australian to beat Nadal on clay. A rare double: he’s only the seventh player to conquer both Nadal on clay and Djokovic on hardcourt in a single season. Nevertheless, as they say a King is hardly disheartened with rare loses. The Spaniard was just grateful to be able to play in the championship one last time.

Rafa ‘enjoyed the game’ in Barcelona as he bids farewell

Many prayed that Rafa would win against Minaur, but alas, the results depended upon the player. The tennis world was sad, but the ‘King of Clay’ was happy to get a chance to say goodbye to the court. “At least, how things went, for me I had the chance to say goodbye here on court,” Nadal said following his  7-5 6-1 defeat against De Minaur.

“That means a lot to me, because I probably felt one week ago that I was not able to play in this event. That would have been painful, so at least I played, I enjoyed the game, and now is the moment to keep going.” He further said he hopes to be competitive and get a similar chance to bid farewell to the French Open but in a much grander way.

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