Nadal proves his dominance
Rafael Nadal is definitely in high hopes of bagging his 10th French Open title when he battered his opponent, Nicolas Almagro in straight sets to finish his second round match.
The Spaniard calmly outplayed his fellow countryman 6-4, 6-3 and 6-1 to seal the ultimate win. Nadal saw off six of seven break points and eventually presented a powerful forehand wide on the first match point.
“I played a very good match, very solid, I’m happy to be back on court Philippe Chatrier,” said Nadal after the match.
The seventh seed will play against either Russian Andrey Kuznetsov or Austrian Juergen Melzer in the next round.
Djokovic survives groin pain to clinch win
Novak Djokovic is on a run to claim his first ever French Open title as he easily defeated Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller 6-1, 6-4 and 6-4, dropping a serve only once. Friend and Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who plays for French team Paris Saint-Germain was seen in the crowd, watching the match as his entourage.
However, the Serb did face some rather painful issues on the court when he stretched his right groin muscle during a slip in the second set. The physios were called in after the ninth game.
“Thankfully it’s nothing major so it’s not a concern for the next match,” Djokovic said.
“It wasn’t pleasant with the conditions that were changing today, and I think a little bit of heavier conditions made the court a little bit more wet and it was pretty slippery.
“So I think that’s when it happened, I made a couple of slides that were quite, I’d say, unusual, you know, with change of directions.
“And it happened in those dynamic movements, jammed the hip a little bit. Thankfully, it’s nothing serious, really. It’s going to be fine.”
The top seed has booked a next round match with Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis.
Struggling Murray bounces back
Scotsman Andy Murray had quite an inconsistent match yesterday against Joao Sousa.
Murray thrashed the Portuguese in the first set 6-2 but could not outperform him in the second set as he was predominantly defeated after 10 games, claiming 4-6. He even received a time violation warning from the umpire. However, he managed to overcome the struggle and conquered the last two sets 6-4 and 6-1 with style.
“He played very well at the end of the second set and the beginning of the third, so I had to weather the storm,” said Murray.
The third seed will next face Australian rising star Nick Kyrgios.
Photo credits: zeenewsindia
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