Rafael Nadal bashes Marcos Baghdatis in the second round of Mutua Madrid Open
King of clay, world number one Rafael Nadal of Spain captured his 35th consecutive win on clay as he thrashed Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis, ranked 24th in the world, in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 in the second round
of Mutua Madrid Open at the La Caja Mágica in Madrid on Wednesday. Nadal took just an hour and 22 minutes to beat his opponent in a one-sided match.
The Spaniard crushed Baghdatis in the first set, breaking the Cypriot thrice and winning the set 6-1.
Nadal delivered 71 percent of the first serves in the opening set, winning 80 percent of the points on them. The Spaniard won 100 percent of the points on his second serve in the first set. On the other hand, Baghdatis had a low
first serve percentage as he hit just 47 percent of the first serves, converting 76 percent of them into points. The Cypriot managed to save only one of the four break points he faced in the opening set.
In the second set, Nadal broke his opponent in the third game and held his next service game to race to a 4-1 lead. The Spaniard consolidated on the single break of serve and served out the set at 5-3.
The left-handed hit a single ace and 48 percent of the first serves, grabbing 85 percent of the points on them in the second set. While, Baghdatis kept his first serve percentage at 50 percent. The 25-year-old clinched 67 percent
of the first service points in the second set. Nadal converted 33 percent of the first returns into points and capitalized on the only break point opportunity he created in the second set.
In the post match press conference, Nadal said, "I think I played quite a good match, I made very few errors. I attacked a few times quite well with my drive. To sum up I’m quite happy with the match. I can’t say much more."
The Spaniard is slated to play world number 32 Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina in the third round. The Argentinean defeated Croatian Marin Cilic, placed at 19th position in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Rankings,
in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 in the second round.
Nadal said, talking about his match against Del Potro, "He has a lot of control of the ball. If I manage to get him moving and to make him feel uncomfortable then I can hurt him. It’s quite difficult to manage this because he’s
very tall and from the very back he can hit very good shots but it’s true that I am in good form recently."
This will be the ninth meeting between Nadal and Del Potro. Nadal leads the Argentinean 5-3 in the head-to-head record.
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