Rafa Nadal's brutal Alex de Minaur call shocks tennis fans amid fresh development

Rafa Nadal has left fans stunned having claimed he would be shocked himself if he was able to defeated Aussie Alex de Minaur in their second round match-up at the Madrid Open. Nadal played just his third game back from injury having defeated American Darwin Blanch in the first round. Nadal only dropped one game to defeat the 16-year-old, ranked World No.1028, as he set-up a rematch with de Minaur.

Last week, de Minaur was too good for the 14-time Roland Garros champion with the Spaniard hitting 42 unforced errors to his 11 winners. The Aussie's movement and relentless effort was too much for the clay court king and his lack of match practice saw him bow out of the Barcelona Open.

And with Nadal set to face-off with de Minaur again on Saturday, the Spaniard talked down his chances of beating the Aussie after their last match. “I would be totally surprised if I beat Alex de Minaur on Saturday,” he said.

“At the moment, win or lose isn’t the most important. One more win or two won’t change anything about my career. I’m not here in Madrid aspiring to win the title. Saturday is just an opportunity to understand where I am. In Barcelona against him I played well for one set”.

When speaking to other reporters, Nadal talked about the opportunity to gain more time on court ahead of Roland Garros. “This week will surely be very difficult. I’m going to have the opportunity to play, which is almost a gift, so I’m happy to get on the court again. I will try to be competitive, as much as I can — he is a difficult player playing at a very high level," he added.

Rafa Nadal's worrying admission ahead of Roland Garros

Nadal stunned fans earlier in the week after the Spaniard claimed he wasn't a certainty to play at Roland Garros. The 22-time grand slam champion admitted he needed to be in better shape before competing in Paris. And despite his strong victory in Madrid, the 37-year-old has not changed his position.

“I’m not a results based guy, I’m a realist about what happens, I was playing against a player with good potential but who makes huge amounts of errors,” he said. “It doesn’t change my perspective on Paris and it will not change here, I’ll make a decision after Rome.”

Ahead of his first round match, Nadal was honest about how he was feeling on his comeback to tennis ahead of what many people thought could be his last grand slam. "If I was in Paris today, I wouldn't go out to play," Nadal told reporters at the Madrid Open before his round one match.

"I don't think I'll be able to play at 100 per cent but it's important to be able to play for the last time in Madrid, it means a lot to me to play on this court where I've had some great moments. This doesn't mean I'm giving up on anything in the next few weeks, I don't know what might happen... "I'm going to do the things I have to do to be able to play in Paris. And if I can, I can and if I can't, I can't. I'm going to Paris if I feel like I'm good enough ... if I feel capable enough to compete...

"The world does not end with Roland-Garros, although it has been the most important tournament of my career. If I don’t play Paris, there are other tournaments there; there is an Olympics soon and other events. I am not going to do more than I feel capable of doing or have the desire to do.”

Alex de Minaur looking to create Aussie history

Only last week, de Minaur became the first Australian ever to defeat Nadal on clay. And he is looking to enter rare territory if he is able to do it again within seven days. De Minaur had a bye in the first round and is well rested ahead of their clash in Madrid.