World number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Spain’s Rafael Nadal breezed into the third round of the French Open after recording straight sets victories today at Roland Garros.
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He was broken in his first service game, and again in his last, but in between Rafael Nadal displayed more than enough of his vintage clay-court form to easily subdue Argentina’s Facundo Bagnis, 6-3, 6-0, 6-3.
He will next play the victor of the second-round match between Nicolas Mahut and or Marcel Granollers.
“The most important thing is a victory in the second round more than the 200 victories”, said Nadal, who now has a 72-2 win-loss record at Roland Garros and only dropped three games in his opening victory over Sam Groth of Australia.
Last year, Rafael Nadal saw his 39-match win streak at the French Open come to an end when he lost in the quarterfinals to Novak Djokovic.
“Everybody’s free to do whatever but I know how tough it was for me when I had to miss the 2012 Olympics in London”, added Nadal, the only active men’s player who has won every major singles title tennis has to offer.
“I’m just always looking to play better, be consistent, be aggressive, and have that combination”, said the 2002 Roland Garros runner up.
Swiss eighth seed Timea Bacsinszky also prevailed in a tricky second round against 2014 runner-up Eugenie Bouchard, winning a topsy-turvy match 6-4, 6-4. The Swiss broke back in the seventh game, broke Bouchard again with a backhand victor for a 5-4 lead, and served out the first set.
After making the semifinals at Roland Garros in 2014, Bouchard lost in the first round a year ago. In the Australian Open earlier this year, he was knocked out in the first round itself by compatriot Fernando Ferdasco.
The others – Nadal, Roger Federer, Guillermo Vilas, Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi and Nicola Pietrangeli – all won at least one title at the clay-court tournament.
In the first two matches of the tournament, Rafa’s played three hours in total and has lost only nine games.
The 11-time Grand Slam victor will now face Britain’s Aljaz Bedene, after the Slovenian-born player recorded a 7-6, 6-3, 4-6, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta.
Women’s top seed Serena Williams produced a clinical performance as she squandered just three games en route a 6-2 6-1 victory against Brazilian Teliana Pereira in the second round.
Not since Gaston Gaudio in 2004 has a player been taken to five sets in each of the French Open’s first two rounds and gone on claim the title.
With the win, Nadal became only the eighth man to reach the milestone.
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TUNISIA’S JAZIRI: No. 7 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic plays 72nd-ranked Malek Jaziri, who is trying to become the first man from Tunisia to reach the third round at the French Open since Mustafa Belkhodjia in 1963.
