Berdych's Madrid upset of Nadal remembered two decades later
On October 20, 2006, Tomas Berdych beat Rafael Nadal in the Madrid Masters quarter-finals by a 6-3, 7-6 scoreline. Playing in Nadal's home country, Berdych responded to a partisan crowd by making a silencing gesture after match point. The result gave Berdych a 3-1 lead in their head-to-head series and stands as a notable early upset of the soon-to-be dominant Spaniard.
By October 2006, Nadal had held No. 2 since mid-2005 and owned two French Open crowns, yet hard courts remained less secure: he fell to Mikhail Youzhny at the US Open and Joachim Johansson in Stockholm. Berdych, born in 1985, had already beaten Roger Federer at the 2004 Athens Olympics and won the 2005 Paris Indoors. He arrived in Madrid ranked No. 11.
Madrid’s Masters event began in 2002 on indoor hard courts at the Madrid Arena, seating 12,000. Past winners included Agassi, Ferrero, Safin and Nadal. Berdych had taken the pair’s two prior meetings, so this quarter-final win extended his early head-to-head edge to 3-1.
This result may have resonated beyond the scoreline, giving Czech tennis fans a memorable victory over a home favorite and adding to Berdych’s reputation as a bold competitor. For Spanish supporters, it could have been a frustrating reminder that Nadal, though dominant on clay, was still beatable on hard courts. The silencing gesture may also have fueled debates about crowd behavior and player reactions, affecting how fans and media remember the rivalry.