Rafael Nadal prevails in straight sets to blaze into Monte Carlo quarterfinals
World Number 1 Rafael Nadal kept his clay streak alive at Monte Carlo, ousting French pro Richard Gasquet in straight sets at the tournament. The match was all over in just over one and a half hour, as the Spanish marvel sent Gasquet
packing 6-2, 6-4. It was hardly a challenge for Rafael “Rafa” Nadal, who is often referred to as the King of Clay.
Nadal cruised ahead in the first set, setting the precedent for the rest of the match. He fired off the only ace in the match, and won an impressive 76 per cent of his first serve points. The Spaniard was not broken even once,
while Gasquet only managed to fight off two of four break points during this first set. Rafael Nadal set up a leading score-line of 6-2, with 59 per cent of the total points in the set.
Richard Gasquet, who is currently ranked World Number 18 and has won six ATP career titles so far, did his best to catch up to Rafael Nadal in the next round. The player did not commit any double faults and scored one ace, while
Rafa played a ruthless game with two aces and the same amount of double faults. The Spanish player, who is on the hunt for his 44th career title, won 75 per cent of his first serve points and went on to break him twice. Nadal himself was broken
once, a testament to the effort made by Gasquet to turn the tables on his opponent.
However, Gasquet’s desire to score his first ever win over Nadal will have to wait till their next meeting. Rafa undid Richard Gasquet 6-2, 6-4 in this meeting, bringing their head to head to 8-0 in his favour. Their last meeting
was at the 2009 US Open, where Rafa scored a straight-sets victory over his opponent in the first round.
Nadal will be competing against Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia in the next round of the 2011 ATP World Tour Masters, after the Croat undid fifth seed Tomas Berdych in straight sets earlier today.
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