As if time did not pass. As if the weight of nearly thirty-six couldn’t be enough. Yet, against all odds, Rafael Nadal reaches eighteen after the Australian 3-in-a-row and the victory in Acapulco. Better than Sampras in 1997 and Federer in 2018: better only Djokovic, able to win the first forty-one games of the season in 2011 and to make twenty-one in 2020 before the pandemic.The Spanish champion, three times champion of the tournament, breaks down the extraordinary resistance of Opelka (thanks to the support of two tie breaks) and reaches at least the table of the first eight. Awaiting him is the luxury confrontation with Kyrgios, who passes the cut of the fourth round without breaking a sweat.”Illness” the motivation that forces Sinner to forfe …