Rafael Nadal breezes past Lukas Lacko in the third round brawl – Australian Open 2012
Sublime form continues for the former world number one, Rafael Nadal of Spain, as he outclassed the Slovakian qualifier, Lukas Lacko, in the third round of the Grand Slam Down Under on Friday. The second seed Spaniard took just
one hour and 55 minutes to dispose of his opponent in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, booking a berth in the fourth round of the mega event.
A jam-packed crowd witnessed the one-sided battle at the Rod Laver Arena at the Melbourne Park, Australia, with the world number two thumping Lacko throughout the contest. Nadal faced no real challenge in the matchup and raced
through the games to register a comprehensive victory in style. His charge to the victory was greatly assisted by the error-ridden game play of the Slovak opponent, who coughed 30 unforced errors in the match to bestow some easy points to the second seed.
Nadal exhibited another display of sheer aggression and exceptional power-hitting in the match and gave absolutely not chance to Lacko to have an impact on the contest. He banged 81 per cent of his first serve on target, clinching
47 out of 55 points on it and was very accurate with his return game also.
“I am playing well," said Nadal. "If you are playing well, things can be a little bit less difficult. If you are playing bad, every match will be very, very difficult.”
A lot of speculations were made about the physical fitness and form but the world number two has shut everyone with his three consecutive straight sets victories in the opening rounds of the Australian Open this week.
“I've played three matches at very good level," Nadal expressed. "Today was one of the best. [It was] solid, without mistakes, [I was] comfortable with the serve [and] having good returns.”
The Spaniard crafted a total of 12 break opportunities in the matchup and converted half of them to drive Lacko out of the contest. The Slovak showed some resilience in the second set of the match but was completely overwhelmed
by the fury of the world number two in the rest of the sets. Nadal charges into the round of 16 at the Australian Open.
Tags: