Rafael Nadal waved goodbye to the Madrid Open and said the tournament will always be “incredibly special” to him after his final appearance there ended in a straight sets defeat to Jiri Lehecka.
He was beaten 7-5 6-4 in the last-16 of the competition.
Nadal won in Madrid on five occasions and, following the match, banners were unfurled from the roof of the stadium with images of his past successes.
In what has been an injury disrupted season for Nadal, he arrived at his match-up with Lehecka enjoying his deepest run at a tournament in 2024.
With an energetic home crowd behind him, the Spaniard opened up with a solid service game but Lehecka did not let the one-sided support faze him as he went toe-to-toe with Nadal in the early stages.
The Czech was forced to save a break point in the eighth game before going on to make the first telling move of the match by converting the first of three of his own break points to move 6-5 ahead.
Lehecka proceeded to serve out to love to take the first set.
A comfort break for Nadal between sets did not deter Lehecka’s focus as he reeled off his fourth game in a row to break his opponent in the first game of the second set.
Nadal struggled to find his stride and the 22-time Grand Slam winner was left arguing with the umpire after disagreeing with a hawkeye decision which went in favour of Lehecka – who held serve to go 2-0 up in the second set.
The world No. 31 dominated baseline rallies with his hammer of a backhand providing Nadal with questions he was unable to answer for long periods.
Nadal avoided going a second break down, though, saving three break points in a lengthy service game which lasted 17 points.
Lehecka’s cool head saw him lose just six points on serve as he went 5-3 up to force Nadal to hold serve – something he executed much to the delight of the crowd inside Manolo Santana Stadium.
With Lehecka serving for the match, every positive move by Nadal was greeted by a huge ovation from the spectators but still the Czech player did not allow the atmosphere to disrupt his flow.
Lehecka’s well earned victory was confirmed as Nadal screwed a back handed effort into the tram lines.
Daniil Medvedev awaits in the next round.