Rafa thru to 2nd round Vamos! Defending champion Rafael Nadal made a strong start in his bid for a ninth Roland Garros title, improving to a 60-1 mark at the clay-court major with victory over American Robby Ginepri on Monday. Nadal raced through the opening set in 29 minutes, after winning the first game on a Ginepri double fault on his fifth break point chance. Ginepri held his first three service game of the second set before the top seed pulled away for good, rolling through the last 10 games to clinch the 6-0, 6-3, 6-0 win. I won this round, but it was a bit difficult because of the weather, said Nadal, but it was very important for me, because it gave me the opportunity of having two days break so that I can practise. Thats always positive. When you win, youre always happy. Of course, as always, I had ups and downs, and I could have played being a bit more aggressive. Ginepri, a former World No. 15 who is currently ranked No. 279, was playing in just his third Grand Slam tournament since undergoing elbow surgery in 2010. He had earned a Roland Garros wild card from the USTA after earning the most Emirates ATP Rankings points at a trio of ATP Challenger Tour events. Always wanted to play him on clay and see how good he is, said Ginepri. He showed me a lesson today. A lot of positives to take away. It was fun out there today, even though the scoreline didnt really reflect it. Thought the match was a little tighter than it showed. The 27-year-old Nadal is looking to become the first player to win the Roland Garros title five straight times, and next confronts Austrian young gun Dominic Thiem. The 20 year old, playing in just his second major, made his Roland Garros debut with a 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-2 win over Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu. I heard very, very good things about him, said Nadal. I didnt see him play, but I know hes a young player and hes a very dangerous opponent. Thiem scored his first win over a Top 10 opponent earlier this month at the Mutua Madrid Open, where he came back to upset World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in the second round. Thiem is currently at a career-high No. 57 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Excerpt from ATP
Posted on: Tue, 27 May 2014 02:23:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015