Rafael Nadal recently made a heartwarming gesture during a practice session at the 2024 Madrid Open, where he came to the aid of fellow players Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev.

Alcaraz and Medvedev were seen practicing together on the clay courts in Madrid. Adjacent to them, Nadal, a five-time champion, was engrossed in his practice session.

During Alcaraz and Medvedev’s session, a stray forehand from the former landed in Nadal’s court. As the Russian ran to retrieve the ball, the Spaniard, in a display of sportsmanship, kicked the ball back to their court, saving Medvedev the trouble.

The video of this incident was shared on X (formerly) on Thursday, April 25.

In addition to his off-court heroics, Nadal also made headlines with his performance in his first-round match, where he faced off against the 16-year-old American wildcard Darwin Blanch. Despite the age gap of over 21 years, the largest at the ATP Masters 1000 level, the Spaniard showed no signs of slowing down.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion dominated the match, defeating Blanch 6-1, 6-0, in just 64 minutes. This victory set up a second-round clash with Alex de Minaur, marking a rematch from their encounter in Barcelona the previous week.

A look into Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, and Daniil Medvedev’s upcoming 2R matches at the Madrid Open

Rafael Nadal is set to face 10th seed Alex de Minaur in the second round of the 2024 Madrid Open. Nadal has a head-to-head record of 3-2 against de Minaur. Their last meeting was at the Barcelona Open a couple of weeks ago, where de Minaur emerged victorious with a score of 7-5, 6-1. The winner of this match will face either Pedro Cachin or 20th seed Frances Tiafoe in the third round.

Carlos Alcaraz, the second seed, received a bye into the second round where he will face Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko. This will be their first clash on the ATP tour. Alcaraz is a two-time defending champion in Madrid. The Spaniard defeated Jan-Lennard Struff and Alexander Zverev in the last two editions.

Shevchenko, on the other hand, had managed to secure a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 victory in his first-round match against Arthur Rinderknech in Madrid. The winner of this match will face either 28th seed Lorenzo Musetti or Thiago Seyboth Wild in the third round.

Daniil Medvedev, the third seed, also received a bye into the second round where he will face Italian Matteo Arnaldi for the third time on the ATP tour. Medvedev has a dominant head-to-head record of 2-0 against Arnaldi.

Their last meeting was at the 2023 Canada Open, where the Russian won 6-2, 7-5 in the second round, before losing 7-6(7), 7-5 against the eventual runner-up De Minaur in the quarterfinals.

Medvedev will be making his fifth appearance at the clay-court tournament, where he has a 3-4 win-loss record. The Russian recorded his best performance in Madrid in 2021 and 2023, when he reached the Round of 16 before losing to Cristian Garin and Aslan Karatsev, respectively.

Arnaldi is coming off a strong performance in the first round against Australian Christopher O’Connell, winning 6-4, 6-1. The winner of this match will face either Max Purcell or 25th seed Sebastian Korda in the next round.