Monday, March 16, 2009

Imperious Nadal romps through in Indian Wells



INDIAN WELLS: World number one Rafal Nadal romped into the third round of the ATP event in Indian Wells on Sunday with a crushing 6-2, 6-1 victory over German Michael Berrer.

The Spaniard made mince meat out of world number 112 Berrer, marching through in just 67 minutes.

Champion Novak Djokovic had a harder time of it before beating Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina 7-5, 6-4, while sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro also advanced.

Nadal broke Berrer's serve in the first game and never looked back, dominating the German from the baseline and outclassing him in every department.

The top seed will play 26th seed Dmitry Tursunov in the third round.

Serbian third seed Djokovic was never at his fluent best but eased past Vassallo Arguello to book a meeting with German Tommy Haas.

After trading early breaks, Djokovic broke the Argentine's serve for the second time in the 11th game, and served out for the set.

The vital break in the second set came in the seventh game and Djokovic held the advantage to clinch victory.

Djokovic has been struggling to repeat the form he showed in the first few months of 2008, when he won his first grand slam title at the Australian Open and then triumphed in Indian Wells.

A switch in rackets in the off-season left him low on confidence but after winning the title in Dubai last month, the world number three believes he is getting back on track.

"The quality is there. The game is there. The fitness is getting much better. It's just a mental ability to play the best tennis," he said.

"I know that I cannot perform always my best tennis, but, again, my confidence has been raised in the last month and a half.

"I'm aware that still there needs to be some improvement, but I'm taking it step by step."

Last year's beaten finalist Mardy Fish lost 7-6, 7-6 to Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while Del Potro beat American wildcard Ryan Sweeting 6-7, 6-3, 6-1.

Nicolas Kiefer and Stanislas Wawrinka also advanced to the third round.
Rafa Nadal romped into the third round of the ATP event in Indian Wells on Sunday with a crushing 6-2, 6-1 victory over German Michael Berrer.

INDIAN WELLS: World number one Rafa Nadal romped into the third round of the ATP event in Indian Wells on Sunday with a crushing 6-2, 6-1 victory over German Michael Berrer.

The Spaniard made mince meat out of world number 112 Berrer, marching through in just 67 minutes.

Champion Novak Djokovic had a harder time of it before beating Martin Vassallo Arguello of Argentina 7-5, 6-4, while sixth seed Juan Martin Del Potro also advanced.

Nadal broke Berrer's serve in the first game and never looked back, dominating the German from the baseline and outclassing him in every department.

The top seed will play 26th seed Dmitry Tursunov in the third round.

Serbian third seed Djokovic was never at his fluent best but eased past Vassallo Arguello to book a meeting with German Tommy Haas.

After trading early breaks, Djokovic broke the Argentine's serve for the second time in the 11th game, and served out for the set.

The vital break in the second set came in the seventh game and Djokovic held the advantage to clinch victory.

Djokovic has been struggling to repeat the form he showed in the first few months of 2008, when he won his first grand slam title at the Australian Open and then triumphed in Indian Wells.

A switch in rackets in the off-season left him low on confidence but after winning the title in Dubai last month, the world number three believes he is getting back on track.

"The quality is there. The game is there. The fitness is getting much better. It's just a mental ability to play the best tennis," he said.

"I know that I cannot perform always my best tennis, but, again, my confidence has been raised in the last month and a half.

"I'm aware that still there needs to be some improvement, but I'm taking it step by step."

Last year's beaten finalist Mardy Fish lost 7-6, 7-6 to Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, while Del Potro beat American wildcard Ryan Sweeting 6-7, 6-3, 6-1.

Nicolas Kiefer and Stanislas Wawrinka also advanced to the third round.

Source:http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/?frm_TOIHome_top

No comments: