Spanish legend Rafael Nadal’s sister, Maribel, recently attended the Miami Open round-of-16 thriller between rising talent Martin Landaluce and American Sebastian Korda. The 20-year-old Spaniard, who has trained at the Rafa Nadal Tennis Academy since his childhood, defeated Korda, who beat World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round.
Maribel Nadal Shows Support for Martin Landaluce at the Miami Open
Maribel, the younger sister of the 22-time Grand Slam singles champion, was spotted supporting Landaluce during his round-of-16 clash against Korda. The rising Spaniard, in his journey in South Florida, surpassed Mackenzie McDonald and Thiago Agustín Tirante in the qualifiers to make the main draw. He then beat Marcos Giron and dismissed two seeds, Luciano Darderi and Karen Khachanov, to confirm a match against Sebastian Korda.
Korda progressed to the round of 16 by knocking out Alcaraz, the top seed at the Miami Open. He defeated Alcaraz with a concluding score of 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. This was the American’s second win against the Spaniard but his first against a World No. 1.
Korda, however, failed to capitalize on the momentum, losing to Landaluce with a 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 score, despite having a match point in the second set.
The Spanish talent lost the first set to the Florida native, then came back dominantly to clinch the next two. The prominent action was attended by Nadal’s sister, Maribel, who was sitting in Landaluce’s box, showing her support.
She currently serves as the deputy general manager at the Rafa Nadal Academy, which has produced high-profile players, including Alexandra Eala and Landaluce. Maribel is very supportive of the academy’s alumni, offering them encouragement in person and on social media.
After securing a notable victory at the Miami Open, the ATP Masters 1000 event, Landaluce reflected on the win, revealing that he was dedicating his win to his late grandmother: “My grandmother. She [would have been] 101 last week, and she passed away a few months ago. I wanted to give her the victory.”
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Landaluce reflected on the final shot, mentioning Alcaraz and other Spanish legends: “I needed to go for a nice shot. It’s a nice feeling to get it like that. All the Spaniards try this. They have that fighting spirit. Ferrero, Ferrer, Nadal, Carlitos (Carlos Alcaraz)… I have been watching that my whole career and I’m here right now, so I had to try it.”
Following his victory, Landaluce has become the lowest-ranked men’s quarterfinalist at the Miami Open since Jim Grabb in 1994. In his quarterfinal match, he will face World No. 22 Jiří Lehečka.
