Nadal cruises into Australian Open 3rd round • Pliskova, Halep also advance

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – World No. 1 Rafael Nadal cruised into the third round at the Australian Open on Thursday with a three-set win over Argentine Federico Delbonis.

The 33-year-old Spaniard, who has won 19 Grand Slams including the 2009 Australian title, won 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-1 in two hours and 30 minutes.

“It was the first time playing during the evening here, and the conditions were cooler and slow,” said Nadal during an on-court interview at Rod Laver Arena. “It was a tough match, I lost an awful lot of opportunities on the break points, but I found a way to win. I think in the third set, I was more relaxed and played aggressively.”

Nadal took the first set in 49 minutes, then took charge thanks to his serving consistency in the second set tie-break, which ended with an unreturned serve. Through two sets, Nadal was just 1-for-18 on break points.

“I am happy that I was able to serve all the first serves in the tie-break and play, I think, a good tie-break,” said Nadal. “I needed to win that second set. In the third, again, I played much better... I need to play better. Especially, I need to convert the break points.”

The top-seeded Nadal will next face fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, the No. 27 seed, who defeated German Peter Gojowczyk 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in two hours and eight minutes.

Also advancing was fourth-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev, who breezed past Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez, 7-5, 6-1, 6-3.

Next up for Medvedev is unseeded Aussie Alexei Popyrin, who beat Spaniard Jaume Munar, 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-2.

No. 5 seed Dominic Thiem of Austria had a tougher time of it Thursday vs Australian wild card Alex Bolt, winning 12 of the last 15 games in a 6-2, 5-7, 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-2 comeback to reach Round 3.

Awaiting him in the next round is No. 29 seed Taylor Fritz, who rallied from two sets down to beat South African Kevin Anderson, 4-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-2.

Other top seeds advancing included No. 7 Alexander Zverev of Germany, No. 10 Gael Monfils of France, No. 11 David Goffin of Belgium, No. 15 Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland, No. 16 Karen Khachanov of Russia, No. 16 Andrey Rublev of Russia, No. 19 John Isner and No. 23 Nick Kyrgios of Australia.

On the women’s side, No. 2 seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic beat Germany’s Laura Siegemund in a self-described “ugly match” Thursday to reach the third round.

The former World No. 1 fell behind 3-1 in the opener before finding her form and winning the next six games in the 6-3, 6-3 decision.

Following up her runner-up performance here a year ago, Pliskova finished the 86-minute match with eight aces, 22 winners and 15 unforced errors.

“I’m not sure if it was really nice tennis today,” said Pliskova. “I think she has a very ugly game for me, so I’m never going to feel amazing playing her. I’m just happy to be through because this was an ugly match for me.”

Up next for Pliskova, who is coming off her third Brisbane International title two weeks ago, is No. 30 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The Russian advanced with a 7-5, 7-6(1) win over Taylor Townsend.

Another top finisher from 2019 bowed out in the second round. No. 26 seed Danielle Collins, who made a surprising run to the semifinals last year, lost 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 to Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan. Collins’ 48 winners were canceled out by 57 unforced errors, including 25 in the third set.

Putintseva will face Wimbledon champion and No. 4 seed Simona Halep of Romania, who moved into the third round with a 6-2, 6-4 win against British qualifier Harriet Dart. Halep closed out the victory on her fourth match point.

“It was not easy at all,” said Halep. “Even if she doesn’t hit very hard, she has good angles. Her ball doesn’t have that much power to play against, so I had to work a little bit more.”

No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine served nine aces and won 74 percent of her points at the net in a 6-2, 7-6(6) win against Lauren Davis, improving her record against the American to 5-0.

Svitolina has reached the third round in 13 of her last 14 majors. She will meet Garbine Muguruza of Spain, a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 winner against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic.

Other seeded players advancing to the final 32 included No. 9 Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands, No. 16 Elise Mertens of Belgium, No. 17 Angelique Kerber of Germany, No. 19 Donna Vekic of Croatia and No. 28 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia.

Catherine Cartan Bellis eliminated No. 20 seed Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-4.