Rafael Nadal charges into the second round with a win over Alex Kuznetsov – Australian Open 2012
Spanish number one, Rafael Nadal, started his Australian Open campaign in a dashing fashion, as he breezed past the American opponent, Alex Kuznetsov, in three sets. Mammoth crowd jumbled up in the arena to witness the prolific
tennis ace, Nadal, ousting his opponent with a score of 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. It was expected to be a straight set win and the proceeding at the Hisense Arena proved the hypothesis.
Starting the match with a serve break delivered a strong message to his opponent that Nadal was there to win this contest and he is going to claim the Australian Open title, no matter what it requires of him. No more breaks were
seen in the following games as the Spaniard sealed the first set win with ease.
Second set start was a replication of the opener, as Nadal broke serve in the first game to take the initial lead. Kuznetsov was clearly buried under the pressure of playing against one of the world’s most devastating tennis icon
and kept crumbling in the contest. The Spaniard spared just one game for his opponent in the second set; broke in succession in the fifth and seventh game to take the second set and pound immense pressure on his opponent.
There was no coming back from that stage for the American underdog and he just managed to pocket one game in the third set. World number two broke serve in the second and sixth game, which was good enough for him to confirm his
triumph over the American. His mighty forehand winners down the line in the sixth game were applauded by everyone in the arena. The aggression on his face told the whole story. With a cracking ace to end the match, Nadal punched the air and inched one step
close to his first milestone of the season.
The Spaniard is all set to reclaim his throne from the reigning world number one, Novak Djokovic. He has his eyes set on the first Grand Slam title of the year in Melbourne; if that happens it will re-ignite the intensity between
the two arch rivals.
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