China Open: Nadal enters second round, Sharapova advances to 3rd

BEIJING: Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal had to dig deep to defeat French Lucas Pouille 4-6, 7-6, 7-5 to reach the second round of the China Open on Tuesday.

World No.1 Nadal struggled to cope with Pouille’s powerful first serve, but he was more consistent in the important moments to seal the win after two hours and 31 minutes of contest, reports Efe.

One set down and trailing 4-6 in the second set tie break, the 2017 US Open champion had to save two match points, to come back in the contest winning four straight points.

Both players held serve in the third set until the 11th game, when Nadal, who recently won Laver Cup with Team Europe, managed to break Pouille’s serve for the first and only time in the match.

Winning the next game was enough for Nadal to avoid another upset by Pouille, who had defeated him in a five-set match at the 2016 US Open last 16.

In the second round, the 16-time Grand Slam champion is set to play against Russian Karen Khachanov, who defeated Chinese Di Wu 6-4, 6-2.

Earlier, Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro had a less troubled win over Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 7-6, 6-4, saving all three break points he faced during the 98-minute match.

Wild card Del Potro is scheduled to face Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, seeded no.3, who got rid of Bosnian Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Meanwhile, Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova overcame a late revival by compatriot Ekaterina Makarova to prevail 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in the China Open second round on Tuesday.

This was the second three-set victory in a row for Sharapova, as she earned a hard-fought win against Anastasija Sevastova 7-6, 5-7, 7-6 in the first round of the tournament, reports Efe.

“There are certain moments of the match where you have to think a little bit more, where it’s not coming as naturally as maybe it did in the past,” Sharapova, who was banned for 15 months for breaching anti-doping regulations, said.

“That takes time. But to be able to get through them physically and do the right thing when it matters is what I can ask from myself,” Sharapova added. The former world No.1 came from a break down in the first set to win four straight games, before she saw her serve broken once again.

The five-time Grand Slam champion earned one more break to seal the first set, despite conceding serve once again.

Makarova started the second set with the right foot, as she took the lead 4-1 and went on to clinch the set in the third set point she got.

With no room for errors, Sharapova broke her rival’s serve early in the third set, and built on her lead to win over Makarova for an 8th time.

The 30-year-old Sharapova is set to face Romania’s Simona Halep, world No. 2, who advanced to the third round after the retirement of Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova who was trailing 6-1, 2-1.