Rakuten Japan open 2010 - Rafael Nadal and Gael Monfils advance
World number one Rafael Nadal comfortably won his second clash at the Rakuten Japan open Tennis Tournament on Thursday after getting the better of Milos Raonic, a qualifier from Canada in two sets. The final match score was 6-4, 6-4. The battle concluded in a time period of seventy three minutes in Tokyo.
The 24-year-old Spaniard prevented a total of four break point chances at 2-3 in the decisive set, before grabbing the next three games to seal victory on Thursday.
The left hander Rafa is attempting to capture his 43rd tour-level crown at the ATP World Tour 500 hard surface championship this week. He currently shares an ATP World Tour best match record of 63-8 on the year, highlighted by a total of three major crowns at French Open where he defeated Robin Soderling, Wimbledon where the Spaniard overpowered Berdych, and the United States Open where the top seed dismissed Djokovic in the finals.
Meanwhile, the fifth seed Gael Monfils, who currently shares a match record of 4-3 against his quarter final foe Andy Roddick, triumphed in his third straight match versus Andreas Seppi from Italy in two sets on Thursday. The final match score was 6-4, 6-4. The clash was stretched to seventy eight minutes in Tokyo. Gaels, as a result of this victory has improved his match record to 32-15 on the year.
"Today was better than the first round however I can still play better. I am still a bit slow and not using enough my forehand. It will be a tough match against Andy; I have known him for a long time. It will be an interesting match,” added Monfils after his victory on Thursday.
Earlier in the morning, Viktor Troicki from Serbia got past Jurgen Melzer in a three-setter clash in Tokyo. The final match score was 6(7), 3-6, 7-6(3). The Serbian battled from 2-5 in the final set and prevented one match point to surpass Melzer in his two hours and twenty two minutes play on Thursday. Viktor smashed a total of eighteen aces to topple Melzer, and thus confirmed his quarterfinal berth at the Japan Open this year.
Viktor after the match while commenting on his win said, "This victory means a lot to me. This year I had a lot of matches that I was winning and did not win, like against Jurgen at Wimbledon. Today it went the other way. If you continue to work hard it pays off."
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