Rafa Nadal boasted after his first-round US Open match that he had a video recording of being the first player to hit a ball in practice under the new roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
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“It is great to be the first player to play with the roof closed, in the competition, because I was the first player to hit in the Centre Court with the roof closed”, Nadal was quoted as saying by ATP World Tour official website.
Muguruza and Sevastova played with the roof open, but both complained about the noise from the boisterous fans, which appeared to be exacerbated by the roof support structure trapping the sound. It’s just fantastic. You know, I feel very close to them because I play with a lot of passion and they give me that electricity.
The first set was about as good as it gets for Nadal, who served Seppi with a bagel to kick off the match.
‘The last forehand of the match was great, ‘ said Nadal, who was sidelined after pulling out of the third round of the French Open with a left wrist injury until the Rio Olympics.
“Not easy to go 2.5 months out of competition, in the middle of the season, without hitting a forehand”, Nadal said Tuesday, per Howard Fendrich of the Associated Press. “That’s an important shot for me”.
Second seed Angelique Kerber faces American CiCi Bellis while two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki are also in action.
Nadal earned three breaks on six chances and won a total of 20-of-33 receiving points in the opening set. I think first set was unfair because 6-0 was not the right result.
“This is why I came back to the sport for the big stages like this and night sessions at the Slams”.
Nadal has been in much better form recently, and it would be a major surprise for him to be knocked out early. Muguruza said she “didn’t feel silence at any point”.
“Next round is a very tough opponent”. I always love the energy and the noise of the NY crowd.
“It was extremely physical out there”.
“This is New York”, USTA executive director Gordon Smith told reporters. In the eighth game of the match, Seppi finally manages to get his first hold of the match with some big serving to get out of trouble. “It was a result of over-exuberance”, said 25-year-old Raonic. Djokovic had a walkover against Jiri Vesely.
Last year’s runner-up, Italy’s Roberta Vinci, takes on Carina Witthoeft of Germany for a place in the last 16 of the women’s event.
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“I could not hear the ball come off the racket”, said Brad Gilbert, who was sitting courtside.
