It was too bad that Rafa Jr. did not get to see this one live.
Even better days may lie ahead on clay for his father in the weeks and months to come. But this one was a long time coming, and though not many of us can retrieve memories on demand from when we were 18 months old, the experiences are in there somewhere: percolating, influencing, inspiring.
Rafa Jr. did watch from his mother’s and aunt’s arms on Thursday as his dad made a winning return to Madrid. But that 6-1, 6-0 victory was a processional: secured against Darwin Blanch, a trapped-in-the-spotlights 16-year-old who struggled to keep the ball in play for long.
Saturday provided a much better test with the speedy and improved Alex de Minaur once again across the net.