Roberto Bautista, who qualified for the second round of the Madrid Masters 1,000 after having entered as lucky loser, He does not understand that there are not more invitations for local players in the tournament.
“The truth is that I was hoping to have an invitation, but I have always been in a privileged position, listening to my colleagues complain“, said.
“I understand that the tournament is property of IMG and that it favors its clients, but I do not agree that it has huge amounts of money from sponsors and Spanish institutions and that is of no use. “That doesn’t happen anywhere in the world, this only happens here,” Bautista declared after beating the Colombian Diego Galán 7-6 (4), 4-6 and 6-1.
“At the moment I am competing at a good level, I don’t set a retirement date,” said Bautista, 36 years old. “I am eager and physically strong, eager to play these games at the highest level.” “It was a very tough match, I think I deserved to win in two sets but I finished the match with a high level,” he said.
Bautista was treated on the track for discomfort in his lower back. “It’s grazing my nerve back there,” he said. The anti-inflammatories, he added, were good for him to endure the three races.
Regarding Rafael Nadal’s last participation in Madrid, he said that “hopefully he will be there for many more years, but time passes for everyone.” “I hope I see him winning three or four games, I’m sure that if he wins them the film will change a lot. He needs to win those games to be more optimistic for the rest of the season,” he said.
In the second round, Russian Karen Khachanov, 16th seed, awaits Bautista. The Spaniard was a semi-finalist in Madrid in 2014 and has not made it past the third round since then.
