Nadal, Bouchard advance in Paris
Rafael Nadal continued his quest for a record-extending 13th French Open title with a 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 crushing of American Mackenzie McDonald to advance into the third round on Wednesday.
The Spanish second seed, also looking to equal Roger Federer's men's record of 20 singles Grand Slam titles, was never bothered.
The clay court master played deep, using his forehand to devastating effect.
After McDonald won the second game, Nadal bagged 11 games in a row to move two sets up and despite some resistance from his opponent early in the third set, he had no trouble improving his win-loss record at Roland Garros to 95-2.
“My objective is to play as well as I can. It was a good match for me today. I'm very happy,” Nadal said.
Meanwhile, three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka said he was ready to challenge for his second French Open title after a comfortable 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win over German Dominik Koepfer.
The 2015 Roland Garros champion put his muscular build to good effect to hit 51 crunching winners despite slow conditions.
The 16th-seeded Swiss suffered his only service break in the third set, which he went on to lose, and broke his opponent's serve five times in the match to complete the victory in just over two hours.
“I'm ready for it. I've been practising right. I'm feeling good. I like
the condition here. I enjoy being back playing Grand Slam. It's great to be able and have the chance to play this year French Open,” Wawrinka said.
The big news out of the women's side was American Serena Williams withdrawing, citing a left Achilles injury. She said the injury is unlikely to heal in time for her to
compete in another tournament in 2020. Williams, 39, bowed out after attempting to warm up for her second-round match at Roland Garros against Tsvetana Pironkova.
The lone Canadian result on Wednesday was Eugenie Bouchard advancing with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win over Daria Gavrilova.