Britain’s Jack Draper is through to the Madrid Open fourth round after Matteo Berrettini retired injured, on a day fellow Britons Cam Norrie and Jacob Fearnley were knocked out.
Draper won the first set against the Italian via a tiebreak 7-6 (7-2), with Berrettini retiring and confirming victory for the British No 1 soon afterwards due to an abdominal injury.
“He said his abs were pulling. I’ve had ab injuries in the past, I believe he might have done it in his last match. Credit to him for coming out here and putting on a good first set,” fifth-seed Draper said.
“I saw his energy was a bit low. In general, Matteo is a very positive player. So it’s always tough to see a friend having an injury. I know it’s plagued him a lot. I know how it feels. I hope he’s able to come back for Rome. I wish him all the best. He’s a great guy.”
Earlier, Norrie endured a disappointing defeat at the same stage against Canadian lucky loser Gabriel Diallo, winning the first set 6-2 but losing both the next two 6-4 to exit the tournament.
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Highlights of the Madrid Open clash between Cameron Norrie and Gabriel Diallo
Fearnley was also knocked out in the third round, losing to Grigor Dimitrov having been among those affected by the power outage on Monday.
The Scot had broken Dimitrov’s serve to stay in the match before play was halted on Monday, and resumed trailing 6-4 5-4.
The power cut, which affected much of Spain and Portugal, forced play to be suspended just after 12.30pm local time.
Fearnley emerged on Tuesday to claim the first game on serve, levelling at 5-5, and the Brit dug in to stave off match point in his next service game, taking things to a tiebreak. Despite Fearnley claiming a couple of mini-breaks, Dimitrov just proved too strong to close out the match 6-4 7-6 (7-3).
Jacob Fearnley was knocked out of the Madrid Open by Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov
The tournament announced on Tuesday morning they were still experiencing problems, with the opening of the gates to fans delayed.
But the problem was resolved and a statement on the Madrid Open X feed said: “Power supply has been restored at the Caja Magica. To ensure the proper functioning of the entire facility, gates will open at 11am, and play will begin at 12pm, as originally scheduled.”
The power cut meant the electronic line calling, which has replaced line judges, did not work, while the spider camera was stuck in a low position over the court.
Spanish power distributor Red Electrica said more than 99 per cent of the country’s power had been restored by 6am on Tuesday, with the cause of the unprecedented outage still being investigated.
Zverev knocked out of tournament
Alexander Zverev was knocked out of the Madrid Open by Argentine Francisco Cerundolo
Top-seed Alexander Zverev was also knocked at the third-round stage by Argentine Francisco Cerundolo, who extended his winning record against the German to 3-0.
Cerundolo beat Zverev 7-5 6-3 as he booked his place in the quarter-finals at the Caja Magica.
Zverev’s exit leaves the men’s draw wide open, with world No 4 Taylor Fritz the highest-ranked player remaining.
Zverev had a brilliant opportunity to claim his third title in a tournament he usually thrives in, with world No 1 Jannick Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz absent from this year’s event.
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