Madrid Open 2016: Tuesday Tennis Scores, Results, Updated Schedule
Rafael Nadal cruised to the third round of the 2016 Madrid Open on Tuesday, wasting little energy in getting past Russia's Andrey Kuznetsov.
The Spaniard dominated with his serve and patiently waited for his chances in the return game, booking a meeting with the winner of the match between Lucas Pouille and Sam Querrey in the next round with the win.
Later in the day, Andy Murray struggled against Radek Stepanek but pulled through in the end, beating the veteran in three sets.
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Nick Kyrgios and Gael Monfils also didn't drop a set on their way to the next round. In the women's draw, Simona Halep was never troubled by Karin Knapp, and Lucie Safarova didn't show up for her clash with Samantha Stosur.
Here's a look at Tuesday's results:
| (15) Roberto Bautista Agut bt. Santiago Giraldo | 6-3, 7-5 |
| Nick Kyrgios bt. Guido Pella | 7-6 (7), 6-4 |
| Pablo Cuevas bt. Philipp Kohlschreiber | 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) |
| (13) Gael Monfils bt. Kevin Anderson | 6-4, 6-1 |
| Fabio Fognini bt. Bernard Tomic | 6-2, 6-4 |
| Juan Martin del Potro bt. (14) Dominic Thiem | 7-6 (5), 6-3 |
| Jack Sock bt. Benoit Paire | 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5) |
| (5) Rafael Nadal bt. Andrey Kuznetsov | 6-3, 6-3 |
| (2) Andy Murray bt. (Q) Radek Stepanek | 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-1 |
| (11) Milos Raonic bt. Alexandr Dolgopolov | 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2 |
| Borna Coric bt. (W) Nicolas Almagro | 6-2, 6-2 |
| (10) Richard Gasquet bt. (W) Fernando Verdasco | 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 |
| Albert Ramos-Vinolas bt. Jeremy Chardy | 6-3, 6-4 |
| (Q) Denis Kudla bt. Ivo Karlovic | 6-7 (7), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) |
| (W) Pablo Carrena Busta bt. Grigor Dimitrov | 7-6 (3), 6-3 |
| Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova bt. Camila Giorgi | Walkover |
| (6) Simona Halep bt. Karin Knapp | 6-1, 6-1 |
| Timea Bacsinszky bt. Ekaterina Makarova | 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 |
| Carla Suarez Navarro bt. Sabine Lisicki | 6-3, 6-2 |
| Samantha Stosur bt. (11) Lucie Safarova | Walkover |
| Dominika Cilbukova bt. Caroline Garcia | 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 |
| (Q) Laura Siegemund bt. (Q) Mirjana Lucic-Baroni | 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 |
For the full schedule, visit the ATP's official website.
Tuesday Recap
Stepanek and Murray hadn’t met since 2014, when the veteran shocked the Scotsman at Queens. The 37-year-old started Tuesday’s match on fire, breaking Murray’s serve in the first game and easily holding his serve.
The Czech dominated from the baseline, to the surprise of just about everyone, attacking with deep power-shots and driving the defending champion out of the lane. Per Live Tennis, few will have expected him to hold the advantage in winners early:
"#Stepanek's face here is basically everyone else's face at that early winner count... pic.twitter.com/YgBzGxAfyG
— Live Tennis (@livetennis) May 3, 2016"
Murray grabbed a key break in the sixth game, as Stepanek made a handful of errors and couldn’t overcome a third break chance, and the two would go toe-to-toe the rest of the way, setting up a tiebreak.
In that tiebreak, Murray’s strong backhand and superb groundstrokes made the difference, and Stepanek made one unforced error too many, handing him the set with a stray forehand.
But the Czech took courage from his excellent showing in the first set and came out with an even more aggressive game plan in the second, firing his serves as deep as he could and stepping into the court in the return game.
A quick hold was followed by a break and a hold to love, and Murray started to get visibly frustrated with Stepanek’s tendency to dash for the net as soon as he got the opportunity.
Per Live Tennis, the veteran showed no signs of fatigue, despite playing a long three-setter on Monday:
"Just to emphasise how totally-NOT-exhausted he is, #Stepanek practically dances for the crowd as he holds to 0. 3-0. pic.twitter.com/VRNEoJyr42
— Live Tennis (@livetennis) May 3, 2016"
Murray got on the board in the fourth game and held in the sixth, despite several break chances for Stepanek, but he couldn’t find a way to break back, as Stepanek forced a third set.
The short break in between sets appeared to calm Murray down, and the Scot broke Stepanek’s serve in the second game of the third. Murray pushed his advantage and put tremendous pressure on Stepanek’s serve with some clever returns, and the veteran’s resolve finally broke.
Stepanek would trouble once more, battling to a break chance in the last game of the match, but Murray's class showed at the right time, as he navigated the situation and booked his spot in the next round.
Nadal came into Tuesday's match in superb form, having dominated the clay season with wins in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, and he got to work early against Kuznetsov, breaking the Russian's serve in the opening game.
Nadal's serve game was on point, as he barely gave his opponents any looks with deep, sliced serves, and while Kuznetsov put up an admirable fight from the baseline, it was clear he simply couldn't keep up with the clay expert in the rallies.
It took Nadal just half an hour to go up 5-2, and he decided against attacking Kuznetsov's serve aggressively, patiently waiting for his own serve game to grab the set.
BBC's Russell Fuller noticed it took Madrid's main court some time to come alive:
Kuznetsov started the second set well, finding his range in the rallies and defending the two break chances Nadal got during the first six games. But the Spaniard got the break he needed in the seventh, and he wouldn't lose another game, closing the deal in less than 80 minutes.
Per the Associate Press (for ESPN), Nadal is happy with how he's been playing of late, saying: "I'm happy with the way I started the clay-court season. Today, another victory, so that's great news. I'm excited about this tournament."
As shared by Pau Ferragut of Radio Marca Mallorca, the draw has played out exactly as Nadal would have hoped, especially following Roger Federer's withdrawal:
Monfils was on the court for just 68 minutes against Kevin Anderson, as the Frenchman put together a clinical performance. The 29-year-old never looked overpowering or dominant, but he picked his shots cleverly and made the most of his chances, grabbing three breaks.
Kyrgios also advanced on Tuesday, beating Guido Pella in two sets. The Australian dominated with his first serve, hitting 16 aces and not giving up a single break chance. By beating Pella, he set up yet another match with Stan Wawrinka, via Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times:
In the women's draw, Halep surrendered just two games to Knapp on her way to the next round, while both Camila Giorgi and Safarova withdrew from the competition.
Ekaterina Makarova lost to Timea Bacsinszky in three sets, and Carla Suarez Navarro cruised to the next round by beating Sabine Lisicki.
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