Alex de Minaur knocked out 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the second round of the Barcelona Open 2024 ATP 500 tennis tournament on Thursday.

De Minaur, the fourth seed and world No. 11 in the men’s singles rankings, took one hour and 52 minutes to overcome his Spanish opponent by a 7-5, 6-1 scoreline. The straight sets win also made Minaur the first Australian ever to get the better of Nadal on clay.

“Alex is a great player,” Nadal, who is a 12-time winner at the Barcelona Open, said after the match. “In terms of tennis today, he was in better shape than me. He has really played at a very high level since the beginning of the season.

“I think he has made a very important step forward in his level of tennis. I’m just happy for him and I congratulate him for the level he played today.”

This was the Australian tennis player’s second win over Nadal in five meetings. The other came at the United Cup in a hard court match last year.

“When the draw came out, I probably wasn’t too keen on playing Rafa, but I turned my attitude around and looked at it like a huge opportunity and a once in a lifetime opportunity. I’m extremely happy that I was able to get the win,” De Minaur said.

The Barcelona Open was Nadal’s second tournament of 2024 and first since January when he made the quarter-finals at an ATP 250 meet in Brisbane.

The Spanish tennis great was making a return from injury at the Barcelona Open and had defeated Italy’s Flavio Cobolli 6-2, 6-3 in the opening round before his loss to De Minaur.

Following the win over Nadal, De Minaur will face France’s Arthur Fils in the third round.

Meanwhile, De Minaur’s Australian compatriot Jordan Thompson, the current world No. 32, also made the third round with a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win over another Spaniard, Jaume Munar. Thompson will go up against third seed Casper Ruud of Norway next.