Rafael Nadal destroys Richard Gasquet in 1st rubber – Davis Cup 2011 WG Semi-final: ESP vs FRA
Rafael Nadal, world No.2, destroyed his French counterpart, Richard Gasquet, in the first rubber of World Group semi-final tie of Davis Cup 2011. Playing at the Plaza de Toros de Los Califas Corodoba, Spain; the King of Clay went
on thrashing the Frenchman in straight set winning 6-3, 6-0, 6-1. It took the Spaniard two hours and nine minutes to present his team with the 1st rubber win and a 1-0 lead in the tie.
Prior to the semi-final 1st rubber meeting, the two had played a total of 11 matches out of which, Gasquet won just one with Nadal retiring from the fixture. Other than that, the Spanish bull has slammed the former
world No.7 10 times. Nadal was definitely the favourite to win going in the match. However, the pundits had a slight doubt that the Spaniard might be tired after a final run at the 2011 US Open, though the Spaniard put all doubts and rumours to rest.
With the rubber on its way, Gasquet went serving in the opener and ended up losing a breakpoint. Extending the advantage lead, the Spaniard took out game 2 in less than 12 minutes. The Frenchman won his first game to cut down the
lead to 1-2, however, Nadal went on taking out game 4 as well to extend his lead to 3-1.
With scores at 5-3 after game 8, Gasquet served to cut the lead and ended up losing a breakpoint and the set 6-3. With a shattering performance, the Spaniard took out the first set and led the match 1-0.
Serving out the first game of set 2, Nadal hampered the 25-year-old out of the court beating the Frenchman with a bagel. With 6 back-to-back games win, the world No.2 went on breaking his rival 3 times, game 2, 4 and 6, in the
2nd set. With the 3rd set as the decider, Nadal once again went on serving first as the Frenchman stood to return.
With an easy first game win, Nadal opened up the scoreboard, 1-0, and switch the serve to Gasquet. Continuing to dominate, Nadal fired up and broke the Frenchman and took a comfortable 2 games lead extending it further on winning
the following game, 3-0.
The 25-year-old seemed helpless as he managed to bag just one game and stood to stand another 3 games back-to-back beating including a breakpoint and lost the 3rd set 6-1. With a 3 set straight win, the Spaniard went
on winning the rubber with ease.
The Spaniard’s 1-0 lead was further extended in the 2nd rubber when the number two Spaniard David Ferrer did away with Gilles Simon in straight sets.
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