Roberto Bautista failed to convert a match point having come back from a set down to reach 2-5 in the deciding tiebreak. The combination of John Isner’s explosive serve and the altitude of the Spanish capital proved a challenge too far for the home player.
The man from Castellon was unable to withstand the barrage of 32 aces and was knocked out of the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday. Bautista threw everything he had at the big-hitting American to take him all the way (6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(6)), but there was little he could do against an average first-serve speed of 215km/h and he did not create a single opportunity to break.
The world No. 39 stamped his authority on the Arantxa Sánchez Stadium to progress to the third round and move within touching distance of his best result in the Caja Mágica, which came in 2015 and 2018. To get there he will have to overcome Russian player Andrey Rublev
¡Épica victoria!
?? @JohnIsner levanta un punto de partido ante Bautista para avanzar a 3R (64 67 76).#MMOPEN pic.twitter.com/GiJVn4Sfgk
— #MMOPEN (@MutuaMadridOpen) May 5, 2021
Albert Ramos also failed to add to the list of home players in the third round. The Catalonian lost to Federico Delbonis in two sets (7-6 (5), 6-3) on Court 4. With this win, the Argentine ended a run of six straight victories for the recent champion of the ATP event in Estoril.
The player who arrived in the main draw via the qualifiers has now produced his best result at the #MMOPEN and in an ATP Masters 1000 on clay. The next man standing in Delbonis’ way will be Italian eighth seed Matteo Berrettini.
This year, Aslan Karatsev has gone from surprise package to expected winner in the space of a few months. The Russian player consolidated his membership of the Top 30 by coming back in the first match in Stadium 3 to beat Argentinian player Diego Schwartzman (2-6, 6-4, 6-1).
The Argentine failed to capitalise on his status as the competition’s seventh seed as he bowed out in his opener and it will be the world No. 27 who takes on Kazakh player Alexander Bublik for a place in the quarters.
