Australian Open: Rafael Nadal Through To the Second Round With a Convincing Win

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: January 18, 2011

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One down, six to go.

Rafael Nadal is through to the second round of the Australian Open with a 6-0, 5-0 easy win over Marcos Daniel of Brazil, who retired early as a result of a leg injury sustained during the second set.

Nadal will next face Ryan Sweeting in the second round on Wednesday.

The script couldn’t have been written better. The Tuesday scheduling provided him an extra day of rest to recover fully from the flu and he needed a less than stressful first round match.

He also needed some good match practice as well, and that is exactly what he got today. He wrapped up the match quickly, thus avoiding any overexertion.

Also, the side affects of flu were no longer visible and that is a very good sign indeed.

What is an even more encouraging sign is that his forehand is looking as good as ever and he is moving really well. The balls are landing deep and that is a very positive sign too.

Although, he was hitting some serves around 127 or 128 mph today; he still needs to work on it a little bit more. Undoubtedly, his serve has vastly improved over the last few years, yet one gets the feeling that it is slightly below the US Open level.

Though the high bouncing surface here at the Australian Open suits him much more than the US Open surface, it would be better to continue improving.

He could have easily avoided committing so many double faults today. After all, he may meet John "The Tree" Isner in the fourth round, who is usually not so easy to break. So, Rafa would need to hold his end as well.

But, I guess Rafa is very well aware of the subpar serving show that he put up today, which is why he rushed straight to the practice courts after the match was over.

The good thing is that he looks determined to give all he has got and when he is in this state of mind, Nadal is just a pure delight to watch.

In fact, all the top pla...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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