Nadal sweeps past Sela as Raonic makes winning return
Nadal cruised past Israeli Dudi Sela in the second round of the Miami Open on Friday while Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Canada’s Milos Raonic also enjoyed comfortable victories as the top seeds got underway.
With plenty of backing from the South Florida crowd, Nadal never looked in trouble against the 83rd ranked Sela as he ran out 6-3, 6-4 winner in one hour and 20 minutes.
Second-seed Nishikori beat big-serving South African Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-3 on center court and will face Fernando Verdasco of Spain or young American Ernesto Escobedo in the next round.
Rain delays earlier in the day pushed back Nadal’s appearance on court and gusty conditions also made it tricky for the former world number one.
“It has been very tough and long day for everyone I think. Rain delay a couple of times and then the wind was very, very high,” he said.
The Spaniard is looking to win his first Miami title after losing in the final four times in his career.
INSTRUCTIONS FROM STANDS FINE: WTA BOSS
The governing body for women’s tennis (WTA) is considering changing the rules to allow coaches to instruct players from the stands, its chief executive Steve Simon said.
“The on-court coaching has been positive. I want to look at it further,” Simon was quoted as saying by the Times.
Maharaja XI (Air India) pulled off an emphatic 2-0 win over Reserve Bank of India to clinch the title in the Karnatak Sporting Association’s inaugural Vishwanath Anchan Memorial Veterans’ Football Tournament at their Cross Maidan venue.
The star of Maharaja XI’S victory was Godfrey Pereira. The stalwart striker not only scored the first goal with a fine side volley, his efforts also lead to the second goal which was scored by Anthony Fernandes after Godfrey’s lobbed essay over the RBI goalkeeper bounced back into play off the horizontal bar.
In their semifinals, Maharaja XI and RBI prevailed over State Bank of India and Golden Gunners respectively via the tiebreaker shoot-out after their lively and intense action had failed to see a goal being scored in regulation play.