Rafael Nadal avenged his defeat to Alex de Minaur from Barcelona with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 victory over the Australian on April 27 to extend his stay in Madrid on his final appearance at his home tournament, but admitted he still “needs time” to return to his competitive peak.

Nadal’s farewell tour has pitted him against De Minaur twice in as many weeks but this time the result was reversed as the 22-time Grand Slam champion advanced to a third-round meeting with Argentina’s Pedro Cachin.

In front of a capacity crowd that included the King of Spain, Felipe VI, French football icon Zinedine Zidane, and Real Madrid winger Vinicius Junior, Nadal dug deep to dismiss the world number 11, despite admitting ahead of the tournament he was still struggling with numerous physical issues.