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Rafael Nadal vs Jiri Lehecka: ATP Madrid – Round of 16

The five-time ATP Madrid winner, Rafael Nadal, will take on Jiri Lehecka in the round of 16.

Rafael Nadal Profile

The 22-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1, Rafael Nadal, is currently 512th in the ATP rankings. He is 6-3 for the season and 4-1 on clay court.

Nadal is coming off a 6-1, 6-7, 6-3 win over Pedro Cachin in the third round. Earlier this week, he defeated Alex de Minaur and Darwin Blanch.

Nadal came back to action last week in Barcelona. In the opening round, he defeated Flavio Cobolli 6-2, 6-3 and then lost to Alex de Mianur 7-5, 6-1.

Nadal played in the opening week of the season in Auckland, where he lost in the quarterfinal to Jordan Thompson after defeating Jason Kubler and Dominic Thiem.

Nadal made his debut in Madrid in 2003 and has won the tournament five times. His last title was in 2017, and he made it to the quarterfinals the last time he played there in 2022.

Jiri Lehecka Profile

Jiri Lehecka is ranked 31st on the ATP list, eight spots lower than his career high. The player from the Czech Republic is 15-8 for the season and 2-0 on clay.

Lehecka is coming off a 6-4, 7-6 win over Thiago Monteiro after he defeated Hamad Medjedovic in the opener.

This is the first tournament for Lehcka in over a month after he lost in the opening round in Miami to Alexei Popyrin.

Earlier this season, Lehecka reached the quarterfinals in Indian Wells and Dubai.

This is the second time for Lehecka to play in Madrid after he lost to Alexander Shevchenko in the second round last year.

Head-to-Head

This will be the first match between Rafael Nadal and Jiri Lehecka.

Prediction and Conclusion

At this point in his career, it is questionable how strong Rafael Nadal is, but we all know that the form is temporary and the class is eternal. After warming up in Barcelona, Nadal showed up ready in Madrid and won the first three matches. There is no doubt that he hasn’t had such a busy week in years, but he is definitely ready to shine in Madrid. His next opponent, Jiri Lehecka, also struggled with injuries in the past couple of seasons, and being only 22 years old, he has fully recovered pretty quickly. Nadal really needs this week to regain his confidence and prepare for Roland Garros. He managed to beat a couple of serious players this week, and he still has gas in his tank, which will be enough to ride past Lehecka and reach the quarterfinals.