Rafael Nadal downs Somdev Devvarman to move to the quarterfinal of BNP Paribas Open
World number one Rafael Nadal of Spain beat world number 84 Somdev Devvarman of India in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 in the fourth round at the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday.
The Spanish was broken in the opening game of the first set. However, he broke back in the fourth game to level the score at 2-2. Both players held their serves in the next six games to level the set score at 5-5. Serving to stay
in the set at 5-6, Devvarman failed to hold his serve, losing the set 5-7.
Nadal delivered 58 per cent of the first serves in the first set and converted 64 per cent of them into points. The Spanish capitalised on 2 of the 8 break points he received in the opening set. In comparison, Devvarman converted
only 1 of the 3 break points he received in the first set.
In the second set, Nadal broke Devvarman in the 10th game, winning it 6-4. Although, the Indian served remarkably well as he fired in 3 aces and 86 per cent of the first serves in the second set. Nadal did not hit any ace and delivered
60 per cent of the first serves in the second set. The Spanish needed just a single break-point to break his opponent’s serve. He did not face any break point in the second set. The match lasted for 1 hour and 54 minutes.
With this win, Nadal improves his win/loss record to 12-2 this year. He started the season at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, where he was upset by Nikolay Davydenko in straight sets 3-6, 2-6 in the semi-final. The Spaniard lost to
his compatriot David Ferrer 4-6, 2-6, 3-6 in the quarterfinal at the Australian Open.
The Spaniard is slated to meet world number 239 Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in the quarterfinal. The Croatian defeated world number 26 Albert Montanes of Spain in straight sets 7-6(7), 6-2 in the fourth round.
This will be the 4th meeting between these two. The Spanish leads Karlovic 3-0 in the head-to-head record.
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