NOVAK DJOKOVIC & RAFA RAFAEL NADAL WIN AGAIN IN STRAIGHT SETS EN ROUTE TO FRENCH OPEN 2016 THIRD ROUND AT ROLAND GARROS

Written by: Staff on 26th May 2016

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

NOVAK DJOKOVIC & RAFA RAFAEL NADAL WIN AGAIN IN STRAIGHT SETS EN ROUTE TO FRENCH OPEN 2016 THIRD ROUND AT ROLAND GARROS

epa05330396 Novak Djokovic of Serbia in action against Steve Darcis of Belgium during their men's single second round match at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 26 May 2016.??? EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT |

By Ricky Dimon

Steve Darcis threw just about everything he had at Novak Djokovic, but it was not enough for the underdog to take a set in their second-round match at the French Open on Thursday. Djokovic weathered a couple of impressive fight-backs from Darcis and eventually prevailed 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 after two hours and 17 minutes.

The top-seeded Serb gave back breaks in the first and third sets and also did the same while serving for the second at 5-3. On every occasion, however, he managed to raise his level when it mattered most.

“I’m pleased to get the job done in three sets,” the world No. 1 assured. “But there were things that I definitely didn’t like in my game today; too many unforced errors from the first or second shot in the rally. But credit to Steve for playing a lot of variety and mixing up the pace–very low slice. It’s not easy, because he’s very quick and he anticipates the play very well.

“I would say that all three sets when I was a break up I allowed Steve to come back to those sets and fight for those sets…. I was managing to drop my serve very easily. So hopefully that’s not going to happen in the following rounds. The matches will get tougher. It’s kind of expected at the beginning that you are a bit rusty on the court, and hopefully things will get better.”

Rafael Nadal joined Djokovic in the third round by rolling over Facundo Bagnis 6-3, 6-0, 6-3. Nadal struggled just a little bit right at the start of the match and again at the very end, but he was dominant in between. In fact, the nine-time champion enjoyed a stretch in which he won 17 of 19 games from trailing 2-0 in the opening set to leading 5-1 in the third.

Nadal failed to convert a match point on his own serve at 5-2 in the third before eventually getting broken. But the No. 4 seed recovered to break Bagnis without too much trouble and bring an end to the proceedings in one hour and 46 minutes.

Rafael Nadal of Spain in action against Facundo Bagnis of Argentina during their men’s single second round match at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 26 May 2016. EPA/IAN LANGSDON

It marked the 200th Grand Slam match victory of the Spaniard’s career.

“I won two matches with comfortable results,” Nadal reflected. But I [can] improve things; it’s obvious, no? At the same time, (it) is true that (I’m) having a very positive start of the tournament. I think I played the way that I had to play to be in the third round.

“So I need to keep playing better and better if I want to keep having chances in the next [rounds], but [I’m] happy the way that I’m playing. Let’s see if I’m able to play the same or a little bit better.”

Next up for Nadal is fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers, who led Nicolas Mahut two sets to love when the Frenchman retired due to a knee injury.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Atp World Tour, Clay tennis, Facundo Bagnis, French Open 2016, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, RG16, Ricky Dimon, Roland Garros, Sports, Steve Darcis, Tennis News

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OteliaLedesma says:

May 26, 2016 at 11:44 am

RT @10sBalls_com: Djokovic & Nadal Win Again In Straight Sets En Route To #FrenchOpen Third Round At #RG16
https://t.co/dVzKL3T114 https://…