Rafael Nadal defeated Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 in 87 minutes in Cincinnati on Wednesday night. The players did not take to the court until 11:30PM due to a lengthy rain delay.
Nadal saved all nine break points faced during the match while going two-for-four on break opportunities on the Chardy serve. The Spaniard needed to dig deep to finish off the Frenchman, finally sealing the win on his fifth match point.
With the win, Nadal improves to 2-0 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head matchup against Chardy. His other win against the 2015 Montreal semi-finalist came on clay in Vina del Mar in 2013.
“[In Montreal last week], in the quarter-finals, I didn’t compete as well as I wanted to,” said Nadal, who was eliminated in straight sets by Kei Nishikori in Canada. “But I am working hard, I had a positive start against [Chardy], a good opponent who won big matches last week and yesterday. Being through is great news for me, and I expect another tough match tomorrow.”
In the third round, Nadal will face countryman Feliciano Lopez, who dismissed Italy’s Andreas Seppi 7-6(6), 6-2. Nadal owns a 9-3 lead in the rivalry, but Lopez won the pair’s last ATP World Tour meeting (Shanghai 2014).
“[Playing against Feliciano] is nothing new for me,” said Nadal. “He is a tough opponent who’s been playing at a very, very high level in the last couple of seasons. It will be a big challenge for me, but I hope to be ready for it.”
Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/cincinnati-2015-wednesday-nadal-chardy
Topics: Cincinnati Tennis, Jeremy Chardy, Rafa Nadal, Tennis News, Western & Southern Open
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