Rafael Nadal breezes past Denis Istomin into the round of 32 – French Open 2012
Title favourite, Rafael Nadal of Spain, remained on course of retaining his crown, as he scrambled Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in straight sets in the second round of the French Open in Paris on Thursday. The Spaniard allowed Istomin
to win just four games in the entire match, beating him 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 and moving to the last 32.
Nadal clinched initial breakthrough in the third game and held his next serve to attain a 3-1 lead. The Spaniard did not face any pressure on his own serve but struck again in the seventh game, consolidating on it to win 6-2.
The left-hander neither hit an ace nor made any double fault in the opener. His first serve conversion rate was very impressive, as he won nine of the 10 points.
Nadal and Istomin did not allow each other to break serve in the opening four games of the second set and levelled the score at 2-2. The Mallorca, Spain resident completely dominated afterwards, as he grabbed four in a row and
claimed it 6-2.
The 6ft and 1in tall committed one double fault and 10 unforced errors but balanced that by hitting 11 winners. This time his second serve’s conversion rate was above average, capturing six of the eight points.
In the third set, the Spaniard showed that why he is known as the King of clay, as he did not lose even a single game, winning six consecutively and closing it 6-0.
Nadal was near flawless in almost all departments of the game in the third set. He kept his first serve percentage at 92, winning all of the points on his first and second deliveries.
A jubilant Nadal said, after the match, "I think I played a really solid match. [The] first set I think was [a] good level. [The] second one was good at the end, but in the middle of the set I had some problems with my serve -
two break points in two games in a row. The third set was great, [in] my opinion. [I'm] very happy about the way that I played the third [set]."
He added, "I can improve things. The serve is the first one. I think I improved the level of my serve during the match, but I started the match serving badly. For the rest, more or less, I have to be happy."
The Spaniard will play world number 192, Eduardo Schwank of Argentina, in the round of 32.
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