NADAL POWERS ON IN PARIS
Spaniard cruises past Maden to reach third round
RAFAEL Nadal continued the strong start to his bid for a record-extending 12th French Open title yesterday with a comfortable victory over German qualifier Yannick Maden, while Stefanos Tsitsipas had to dig deep to reach round three.
The 32-year-old Nadal was in near total control against world number 114 Maden bar some nervy moments in the third set, winning 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion will play Belgian 27th seed David Goffin in the last 32.
“He (Maden) is a good player. He had already won four matches so was full of confidence,” said Nadal, whose Roland Garros winloss record now reads an incredible 88-2.
“For me it was an important victory.”
The Spaniard wasted little time in wrapping up the first two sets on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Maden may have briefly allowed himself to dream of an outrageous upset when he twice broke to level at 3-3 and then 4-4 in the third set, but Nadal put him back in his place with two quick games to seal victory.
Nadal appears to be hitting
form at just the right time, after following three consecutive semi-final defeats on clay with the Italian Open title before arriving in Paris.
He finished the match with 43 winners against just 23 unforced errors.
Greek star Tsitsipas did not have things all his own way against Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien on Court Simonne Mathieu, but managed to grind out a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 victory.
The 20-year-old started strongly with an early break, but appeared unsettled following a medical timeout for Dellien after the World No 86 appeared to twist his ankle.
Dellien quickly sealed the opening set, but Tsitsipas raced through the next two sets and seemingly towards victory.
Despite letting a 4-2 lead in the fourth set slip, the 25-year-old Dellien just would not go away, saving three match points from 0-40 down in the 10th game to level at 5-5.
But Tsitsipas did secure the win in his opponent’s next service game, curling a forehand up the line on his fourth match point.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori overcame a sluggish start to see off local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and reach the third round.
The seventh seed looked tight in the opening set before finding his range on Court Philippe-Chatrier, rallying back from a break down in the fourth to advance in solid fashion.
Nishikori will face Serbian 31st seed Laslo Djere for a place in the fourth round.
Another Frenchman, Richard Gasquet, was also sent packing as he slumped to a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat by Argentine Juan Ignacio Londero.
A Gasquet victory would have guaranteed a French presence in the fourth round after the 20year-old Corentin Moutet, Londero’s next opponent, downed Argentine 19th seed Guido Pella.