Tuesday’s morning session at the Mutua Madrid Open was bathed in the heat of the Madrid sun and the fans came to the Caja Mágica in droves to enjoy a day of the best tennis in the world.

Although the indisputable star of the day was Rafael Nadal, the morning session provided plenty to entertain the Spanish fans with wins from home players Pablo Carreño and Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who won their matches against Dimitrov and Chardy respectively. Gilles Simon and Tsonga await them in the next round.

Fans packed the Manolo Santana Centre Court to witness the most anticipated opener of the week, that of Rafael Nadal. “The support from the fans in Madrid is such that it helps you win matches and at this tournament I have won matches thanks to that”, Nadal commented in his press conference, thankful for the people who made it to centre court to see his first-round victory against Andrey Kuznetsov. The Mallorcan played solid tennis throughout a match that he won 6-3, 6-3 against a feisty Kuznetsov, whose grit throughout proved fruitless. His next tie will be on Thursday in the afternoon session against the winner of the Querrey-Pouille clash.

In addition, Carla Suarez beat Sabine Lisicki in two sets, 6-3, 6-2 and is now through to the third round, where she will meet the world number 23, Samantha Stosur. The Spaniard overcame two on-court battles, against her opponent and also against illness. “In another tournament I would have considered leaving the court but here I couldn’t let people down”, she said immediately after her game. Dominika Cibulkova also progressed after seeing off Caroline Garcia.

The day also threw up an all-Spanish tie in the second round after Roberto Bautista beat Santiago Giraldo in two sets. He will meet Feliciano López, who was not so lucky in his doubles match with Marc López, they lost in two sets to Klaasen and Ram.

Juan Martín Del Potro made a victorious return to Madrid after a four-year absence. This time he beat Dominic Thiem 7-6, 6-3 in nearly two hours of play. His opponent in the second round will be the American Jack Sock who saw off Benoit Paire.