U.S. Open 2010: Rafael Nadal defeats Gilles Simon, Reaches fourth round
Rafael Nadal defeated distracted Frenchman Gilles Simon with 6-4, 6-4, and 6-2 on Sunday in the third round of the U.S. Open and sent the brand-new father home to see his newborn son.
The 42-ranked Simon had a good start to this match and played well in the first two sets. However, he was understandably distracted due to the birth of his newborn son Timothee, who was born on Thursday.
Simon was not prepared for the birth as it was premature by four weeks. The player informed reporters prior to the match that he would be facing a win-win situation against Rafael Nadal.
"If I win it's fabulous. If I lose, it's even more fabulous," said the Frenchman. "In the third set, I have to say that I was already in the plane," he added.
Nadal, after serving his sixth ace to end the match, gave Simon a big smile to congratulate him for the new arrival.
Top seeded Rafael Nadal, who has reached the U.S. Open semi-finals in the last two years, has unfortunately never won a title at Flushing Meadows. Nadal looked handsome in his lime green shirt on the seventh day at U.S. Open. More importantly, Nadal came out with a stunning display of tennis, which was filled with athleticism that proved that the 24-year-old Spaniard was in top form.
The Spaniard took the lead in the first set. From that point onwards, the Spaniard did not allow Simon to make a comeback and won the match 2-1. Nadal however did make two forehand errors in the second set, which resulted in handing his break in the seventh game.
Nadal, an eight time grand slam winner, who is attempting to add the exclusive U.S. crown to his name, relaxed in the third set when he broke Simon twice, charging to a 4-0 lead. He showed great efforts in the last game, reaching his first break point of the match at 30-40, before striking two big serves to end the two-hour match.
"I think I am playing better, a little better, every day," said Nadal, who is bidding to become the youngest player in history to win the Australian, French, Wimbledon and U.S. crowns in his career. "The serve is still good, so that's an important thing," he added.
According to most experts, the 25-year-old Gilles Simon was not that hard to beat. This win has taken Nadal into the quarterfinals. Nadal will now face 23rd seed Feliciano Lopez, who simply walked into the 4th Round after Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine retired from the third round match due a toe infection. The winner of the Nadal-Lopez will play against 10 seeded Spaniard David Ferrer or eight seeded Fernando Verdasco, who defeated summer sensation David Nalbandian.
Nadal, who is also known as “The king of clay” has worked a lot on his serve. Generally, he played an aggressive game on Sunday. Other than defending his territory, he has played brilliant drop shots, which worked especially well because of his heavy topspins. He proved to be a counter-puncher in the game. His ground strokes, consistency, speedy footwork and court coverage was remarkable throughout the match. Nadal was praised by the spectators for his heavy topspins, which forced the opponent back of the court.
In recent years, Nadal has worked very hard on his mental resilience and strategic approach, which have proved to be his strengths during crunch matches. Everyone is now looking forwards to the performance of Rafael Nadal when he’ll be facing his compatriot Feliciano Lopez.
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