Nadal beaten by De Minaur as clay comeback halted in Barcelona

Rafael Nadal’s clay comeback was halted in the second round in Barcelona as he was beaten by in-form Alex de Minaur.

Playing his first tournament in three months due to injuries, Nadal hit 11 winners and 42 unforced errors as he lost 7-5 6-1.

It is the earliest 12-time champion Nadal has lost at the Barcelona Open since his debut in 2003.

De Minaur has been one of the form players on the ATP Tour this year and broke Nadal’s serve in the opening game.

Nadal rallied to get level at 3-3, unleashing his trademark backhand with a drilled cross-court winner past an outstretched De Minaur.

But De Minaur finished the set on a hot streak as he won 11 points in a row to move ahead.

Nadal saved a break point in the first game of the second set but couldn’t hang on in his next service game as a loose forehand and missed volley gave De Minaur the break.

Nadal continued to battle but was coming off second best in most exchanges as De Minaur moved 4-1 ahead with another break of serve.

The Australian wrapped up the victory in just under two hours as Nadal went long with another forehand.

Nadal is on the entry list for next week’s Madrid Open as he continues to build fitness ahead of the French Open and Paris Olympics.

Stefanos Tsitsipas won his opening match in Barcelona as he beat Sebastian Ofner 6-4 7-5.

British No. 2 Jack Draper came from a set down to beat Rudolf Molleker and reach the quarter-finals of the Bavarian International in Munich.

Draper didn’t create a single break-point chance in the opening set, but came out firing after a 45-minute rain delay and won 4-6 6-1 6-1.

He will face third seed Taylor Fritz or Alejandro Moro Canas in the last eight.

“He played an amazing level in the first set,” said Draper.

“The conditions were very rainy and slow, so it was tough to come out and play a certain way. In the second and third, the sun came out and I started feeling better. better. I’m really proud of how I played.”

Top seed Alexander Zverev won 7-6(3) 6-2 against Jurij Rodionov in another match that was interrupted by a rain delay.