Rafael Nadal defeats Brazilian Marcos Daniel at Queen’s
Rafael Nadal defeated Brazilian Marcos Daniel as he marked the start of his grass court season. Playing in overcast and gloomy conditions, Nadal demolished his opponent with his ruthless forehand to win the match and progress to the third round. The Spaniard won the match with a score of 6-2 and 6-2.
World No.1 Nadal, who won this title in 2008 failed to defend it last year when his troubled knee ruled him out of playing any competitive matches on the manicure lawns of Queen’s and Wimbledon. However, his knees were far from giving him any trouble this time as he showed a perfect performance. His tactics were spot on as he played with great confidence which was evident from his play. Nadal started the match in an overcast centre court and appeared to be in a race to finish off the match before rain interrupted the match. With this victory Nadal extended his winning streak on grass to 13 games, with his last defeat coming at the hands of Roger Federer in the 2007 Wimbledon final. On the other hand, Serbian Novak Djokovic gave the fans a thorough and clinical performance when he joined Nadal in the third round when he defeated Italian Paolo Lorenzi with the score of 6-3, 6-3. He saved a total of six break points to defeat World No. 96 Lorenzi with ease. Meanwhile, fifth seed Marin Cilic survived an early scare to defeat France’s Nicolas Mahut. Cilic won the match with a score of 6-7, 6-3, and 6-2. Cilic lost the first set to the Frenchman but fought back in the second set to level things. He then went on to seal the third set convincingly with a score 6-2. Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, who is famous for his serve and volley game continued his good form when he overcame Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. 8th seed Lopez won the match 6-2, 6-4.
On the other hand, Lleyton Hewitt beat Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands to reach the quarter-finals of the Halle Open in Germany. Hewitt won the match in straight sets with the score of 6-3, 6-3. The 29-year-old was confident throughout the match as he swept pass 21-year old Bakker to seal his place in last eight. The main highlight of the match was Hewitt’s serve as he served well throughout the match and continued with his impressive comeback from an injury. It also shows that Hewitt has recovered completely from his hip injury. Hewitt will now face German Andreas Beck for a place in last four. Andreas Beck reached the quarter-finals after defeating compatriot Nicolas Kiefer in a tight three set match. Beck won the match with the score of 6-2, 3-6 and 7-6. Other players to qualify for last eight include Philipp Petzschner, who defeated Viktor Troicki with the score of 7-6, 6-3 and Slovakian Lukas Lacko, who won his match against German Dominik Meffert 2-6, 6-4 and 6-3.
Meanwhile, in women’s tennis, Sara Errani advanced into the third round of the Edgbaston Classic event. Italian Errani maintained the feel good factor for Italian women when she defeated American Shenay Perry. Days after Schiavone’s famous Roland Garros win, Errani showed that there was another Italian female tennis player worthy enough to gather media attention. 5th seed Errani won the match with a score of 6-2, 4-6 and 6-1 against the American. She seized the initiative early in the match when Schiavone sealed the opening set. American Perry showed resilience when she fought back to level scores after the second set. But it was the superior game of Errani which paid dividend in the end when she booked her place in the third round with an easy and convincing third set win. On the other hand, British Elena Baltacha retired to give Estonian Kaia Kanepi an easy victory. Baltacha won the title in Nottingham early in the year but suffered a heat stroke and wasn’t completely fit for her first round match. She had to retire just after losing the first set by b6-1. Meanwhile British Anne Keothavong reached the second round when she triumphed over French Pauline Parmentier with the score of 4-6, 7-5, and 7-5.
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