NADAL JOINS FEDERER IN FRENCH OPEN SECOND ROUND, WAWRINKA AND NISHIKORI OUT BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 26th May 2014

French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros

NADAL JOINS FEDERER IN FRENCH OPEN SECOND ROUND, WAWRINKA AND NISHIKORI OUT BY RICKY DIMON

epa04226879 Rafael Nadal of Spain in action during his first round match against Robby Ginepri of the USA at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 26 May 2014. EPA/YOAN VALAT |

It has been a mixed bag of results for seeds through two days of the French Open men’s singles tournament.

Among those drawing the short straw on Monday were Stanislas Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori. Wawrinka, the Australian Open champion, flamed out in round one via a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0 setback against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Nishikori, one of the hottest players on tour heading into Roland Garros, lost to Martin Klizan 7-6(4), 6-1, 6-2.

“I was trying to find my game, trying to find to be aggressive, trying to find anything, and I didn’t,” Wawrinka lamented. “It’s a tough loss, for sure. I’m sad, but maybe it’s going to be very positive the rest of my season. Maybe it will put my ideas in the right place, and maybe it will give me answers to the questions I have for the rest of my season, for the rest of my career.”

Nishikori was also left licking his proverbial wounds, although the good news for the oft-injured Japanese star is that he picked up no more physical problems.

“I was really disappointed with my performance,” he assessed. “I was playing good in the first set, because I was more offensive and I didn’t [commit] many unforced errors in the first set. It could be different if I could get the first set. I was playing well on clay in Europe, so it’s very sad for me to lose first round here. But it’s good I didn’t have another injury.”

There was better news for Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Nadal, the defending champion, rolled over Robby Ginepri 6-0, 6-3, 6-0. Djokovic made quick work of Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. Together, the top two seeds join No. 4 seed Roger Federer in the last 64. Federer advanced on Sunday by taking out Lukas Lacko 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

“I won this round, but it was a bit difficult because of the weather,” Nadal admitted. “But it was very important for me, because it gave me the opportunity of having two days’ break so that I can practice. That’s always positive. When you win, you’re always happy. Of course, as always, I had ups and downs, and I could have played being a bit more aggressive.”

“I played, for most of the match, quite solid,” Djokovic commented. “[The] end of the match was not so nice from my side; dropped my serve twice.”

Nadal will run into up-and-comer Dominic Thiem in the next round, while Djokovic is scheduled to meet Jeremy Chardy on Wednesday.

Topics: Federer, France, French Open, Novak, Paris, Rafa, Ricky Dimon, Roland Garros, Tennis, Wawrinka

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10sBalls_com says:

May 26, 2014 at 10:34 pm

NADAL JOINS FEDERER IN FRENCH OPEN SECOND ROUND, WAWRINKA AND NISHIKORI OUT BY RICKY DIMON @RD_Tennistalk – http://t.co/ltyRkoferk #RG14