Rafael Nadal faces a rough ride against Philipp Kohlschreiber in round one – Qatar Open 2012
World number two, Rafael Nadal of Spain, had to labour harder than anticipated before he finally dumped the 43rd ranked German, Philipp Kohlschreiber, in the opening round of the ExxonMobil Qatar Open on Tuesday. The top ranked Spaniard wrapped up victory in a hard fought three-setter, 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3, to book a place in the round of 16 of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event.
The enthralling contest was played on the hard courts of Doha, in Qatar, with Nadal registering his season-debut victory in two hours and thirty two minutes over the crafty German. The top seed kept his clean record against Kohlschreiber, nailing his eighth straight victory over the German to lead 8-0 in all-time head-to-head series.
World number 43 had an ordinary start in the opening set but stunned everyone with his pin-point power hitting in the second set to force his way right back in the contest. Kohlschreiber took the second set in tie-breaker round to level the matchup at one set apiece but it was an all-Spanish third set, with Nadal blasting his way past the German to seal victory in style.
“I'm very happy about my level,” stated Nadal. “I think I played a very good first set. The only moment that I didn't play well was the beginning of the second and after the tie-break. For the rest [of the match], I think I played solid.”
Nadal secured 47 out of 67 first serve points in the matchup and fired seven cracking aces to gain some un-fought points en route to victory. He crafted a total of 12 break opportunities but cashed on just four of them to dispose of Kohlschreiber in the opening round of the tournament. The world number two took the opening set at 6-3 in his usual aggressive manner but a brilliant comeback from the German quickly left him trailing 1-4 in the second set. He crumbled in the tie breaker to award the second set to Kohlschreiber at 6-7(2).
“He can play at a very high level,” Nadal said. “He has fantastic shots. His serve worked very well for him in moments today, [as well as] his return. Sometimes I felt that I was serving okay, and sometimes his return was very fast. So it was difficult.”
Nadal broke early in the third set to lead 3-1 and then kept pressing his opponent to a convincing victory in the end, booking a second round battle with the other German contestant, Denis Gremelmayr.
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