"It's a good result for Rafa" - Courier on Nadal's Madrid Open run

Rafael Nadal got a couple of matches in Madrid but lost to Carlos Alcaraz in three sets in the quarterfinal and Courier thinks it's good for him.

Former world No. 1 Jim Courier thinks Rafael Nadal did just well in Madrid and losing to Carlos Alcaraz wasn't a disaster. Nadal was out for a month and a half due to a rib stress fracture, before kicking off his clay season this week in Madrid. He defeated Kecmanovic in round two, Goffin in round three and lost to Alcaraz in a tight three-setter.

Speaking about the run, Jim Courier said:

"I think, on many levels, this is a good result for Rafa to actually lose this match on a couple of levels. He gets four days off to play at Rome, which is at sea-level, which much more mimics what he'll face at Roland Garros from a conditions standpoint. And he gets a chance now to regroup, hopefully, kind of reassess where he is, knowing that his rib is no longer a problem."

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Courier was more interested in knowing how his foot held up during the matches. He said:

"How's his foot? That's a question. I wasn't sure his foot was going to feel good after the 2-hour match today, 3-hour match yesterday. Rumours that he was hobbling around to his press conference. We know that's going to be a present problem for him, ongoing."