Blockbuster clash in Madrid Open sees special guest in Rafael Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya

On Saturday, April 30, Carlos Moya watched the match between Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Madrid Open. Rafael Nadal’s current coach Moya visited the Caja Magica to watch the Round of 64 game. On Courtside, Manolo Santana, Tsitsipas and Thiem delivered a thriller, with Thiem displaying hints of his finest play. Tsitsipas managed to pull off a comeback victory with scores of 3-6, 6-1, and 7-6(5) to advance to the 2023 Madrid Open third round. While Nadal is currently on vacation despite recuperating from a hip injury, Moya was present, although in an alternate capacity than usual. 

With Moya beside joining him as instructor at the Italian Open in early May, and during his French Open title defence, Nadal is back in the gym at his academy in Mallorca and might make his comeback to the circuit then.

Sebastian Baez of Argentina will be Tsitsipas’ opponent in the third round as the fourth seed. Tsitsipas and Frances Tiafoe’s quarterfinal matchup is still in the works after Tiafoe defeated Tomas Etcheverry 6-3, 7-6(5) to advance to the third round. Tsitsipas was extremely good on his serve against Thiem, making 39 straight first serves during one point during the match despite some wobbly periods. In nine games against the Austrian, the Greek great had four victories. 

Tsitsipas showed his class after the match

At the conclusion of his match against Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas displayed a certain amount of class. Tsitsipas informed the Austrian that it was his greatest performance since returning from injury and challenged him to keep striving to compete at his highest level of tennis as the two players welcomed one another at the net. Since making a comeback last year, Thiem has had difficulty returning to his best performance. Tsitsipas said, “Your best yet. You still have it. Keep going, you’ve got this.”

Earlier this week, Thiem defeated Kyle Edmund 6-4, 6-1 in the opening round. After defeating Constant Lestienne as well as Marc-Andrea Huesler to advance to the Bavarian International quarterfinals last week, the former US Open champion fell to Taylor Fritz in the last eight.