Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray win at Rogers Cup
Rafael Nadal may have a greater rivalry with a different Swiss player than the one he faced in his opening match at this year’s Rogers Cup, but that didn’t present Stanislas Wawrinka from dishing up a challenge to the world No. 1 in Toronto.
Nadal, playing his first match since winning his second Wimbledon crown at the beginning of July, was pushed to the longest tiebreak of his career by the Swiss No 2 but after taking the first set 7-6(12) the Spaniard closed out the match 6-3 in the second as he found his range and rhythm, producing just nine unforced errors in the second set compared to the 27 mistakes that flowed from his racquet in the first.
Joining Nadal on the winners list was defending champion Andy Murray, who, with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Xavier Malisse in his opening match ensured the Belgian wouldn’t be producing the same giant-killing run that took him to the semi-finals of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington last week.
The match, however, wasn’t without a minor scare for the coach-less fourth seed, as Malisse secured the early break in the first set before Murray turned things around to break the world No. 52 as he was serving for the first set at 5-4, then going on to win the next two games to secure a 1-0 lead in the match.
But while both Nadal and Murray were challenged in their second-round matches, David Nalbandian’s strong form continues, with the Washington champion taking up where he left off in the US capital with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Tommy Robredo in his second-round match.
The Argentinian faces fifth seed Robin Soderling next in what should provide an even sterner test of the form that has seen him go undefeated since returning from a leg injury (which forced him to miss both the French Open and Wimbledon) to represent his country in their Davis Cup quarter-final tie against Russia.
In the biggest upset of the day, 16th seed Sam Querrey was downed in three sets by qualifier Kevin Anderson, whose reward for that effort is a third-round match against Nadal.
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