Pablo Carreno he let a game slip away that he had practically won, in which he even had two match points against the Dutchman Botic Van Zandschulp who turned the situation around and won 6-7(6), 7-6(1) and 6-3 to advance to the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open.
Carreno cannot break the curse in the Madrid Masters 1000. He has already played seven times in the Caja Mágica and has only won one match. Always, except in 2016 when he fell in the second round, he has stalled in the first leg.
This edition was no exception. Despite the fact that the Asturian faced the tournament as a finalist in Barcelona days ago and having the match against the Dutchman more than on track, he succumbed after two hours and 42 minutes.
The match went through the edge in the first set that the Spanish won in the tiebreaker. Carreno He kept up the good level later, in the second round, in which he came to have a 5-2 lead and two points to score the victory that he did not take advantage of.
The debut in Madrid of By Zandschulp finished successfully. The Dutchman, who had never played with Carreño, staged a wonderful comeback. There were no signs of the respiratory problems that he suffered from days ago, at the Munich tournament, where he was a finalist.
He took advantage of his chance and the decline of the Asturian to reach the second round where he will play against the Belgian David Goffin.