Roberto Bautista Agut\u2019s roar resounded around the Manolo Santana Stadium like few others before it. The Spaniard claimed a huge victory at the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday in one of the most hotly-anticipated matches of round one. With his considerable fighting spirit, the Castellon native took down Jaume Munar 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in over two hours of tennis in order to redeem himself in the Caja Magica.<\/p>\n
\u201cJaume is playing well\u201d, acknowledged the world No. 55 sportingly, recognising his opponent\u2019s talent. \u201cHe\u2019s a very tough player, even more so on clay. I\u2019m very happy to come through this match, I always really enjoy playing here in Madrid. I\u2019ve always been extra motivated at this tournament. I feel happy that I won\u201d.<\/p>\n
It’s all hands on deck for Bautista in the Caja Magica because of the situation he finds himself in. The Spaniard, whose broken fibula at the end of 2023 threatened to end his career, is working hard to keep his place among the stars of the ATP Tour. He is not as young as he used to be, but the years have done nothing to dampen his enthusiasm and Bautista now relies on his strength of mind to continue playing his best tennis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you haven\u2019t been playing as well as you expect, winning fewer matches than normal, it\u2019s always hard to get out of the rut\u201d, said the Spaniard, who had only won three of his last 13 matches this season. For a former Top 10 player, and someone who is used to dominating his opponents, his current situation requires phenomenal mental strength every time he takes to the court. \u201cI knew it wouldn\u2019t be a walk in the park. You don\u2019t get out of ruts without fighting for it, gritting your teeth, grinning and bearing it\u201d.<\/p>\n
Now, the doors of the Caja Magica represent a huge challenge for the Spaniard. In his next match, none other than top seed and two-time champion of the tournament Alexander Zverev will await on the other side of the net. The German world No. 2 is still in his pomp. He touched down in Madrid this week having taken the title in Munich, a clay event that he dominated from start to finish.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have liked to play someone else. He\u2019s just won in Munich too!\u201d admitted Bautista, despite his excitement at progressing at the biggest tournament in Spain. The Spaniard, who produced his best result in the Caja Magica back in 2014 (semifinal), is dreaming of reproducing the magic he found in the Spanish capital over a decade ago. \u201cHaving the chance to play in Madrid is very special, so I\u2019ll give it my all. I\u2019m going to be really motivated, I can\u2019t wait to play that match\u201d.<\/p>\n
Bautista Agut is one of the most experienced players on the circuit and is now the third oldest player in the world\u2019s Top 100, where only Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils are carrying more years. Inevitably, it is telling in a pair of legs that have trodden the tour like few others.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tougher now\u201d, explained the Spaniard. With two decades under his belt as a professional, the body blows are tougher to take. \u201cWhen you\u2019re 25 and you lose, there are no doubts. At 37 the doubts are more prominent. This is a new situation for me and I have to try and deal with it. Of course, I\u2019m enjoying the final stages of my career. I have to enjoy playing matches like this one and winning as much as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n
In Madrid, where every victory will taste extra sweet to Roberto, one of Spain\u2019s best-loved players is hoping to do something special.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Roberto Bautista Agut\u2019s roar resounded around the Manolo Santana Stadium like few others before it. The Spaniard claimed a huge victory at the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday in one of the most hotly-anticipated matches of round one. With his considerable fighting spirit, the Castellon native took down Jaume Munar 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":100999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[837,838],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-noticias-tenis-en","category-noticias-tenis-masculino-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101052"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101053,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101052\/revisions\/101053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mutuamadridopen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}