Unforgiving Rafael Nadal dispenses Michael Llodra from Mutua Madrid Open
World number one, Rafael Nadal of Spain, showed no mercy in dismissing the unseeded Frenchman, Michel Llodra, form the quarter-final of Mutua Madrid Open in Madrid, Spain. In the Friday night’s matchup, the top ranked Spaniard
crushed Llodra in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, taking merely 75 minutes of play to reach the semi-final of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 1000 clay-court event.
It was the 30th victory for the Spaniard in the running year, extending his clay-court winning streak to 36 matches. The ‘King of Clay’ dominated throughout the contest and remained unbroken till the end. It was the
first time Llodra faced the Rafa flare and proved no match to the top seeded player. With the home crowd enchanting at his back, the Spaniard concluded his straight sets victory by losing just four games in the entire matchup. Nadal crafted 12 break opportunities
in the contest, converting just of them en route to victory.
“Today it was quite good, especially here with the altitude it’s a little bit more complicated because it’s more difficult to go over him,” reflected Nadal after winning the quarter-final, “It’s a bit more difficult with the serve.
I felt quite good on the court, I served well. In the second set there were quite a lot of rallies and not so many in the first and I think I played really well.”
24-year-old Nadal was in the driving seat right from the very first minute of the contest and held eight straight serve games without facing a break point in the contest. He secured 25 out of 30 serve points in the game to advance
to his sixth semi-final of the running ATP season. The world number one was off to a blistering start in the opener, stinging two serve breaks in the beginning and reeling the opening four games to lead 4-0. Llodra held the next two serve games before an un-returnable
serve from Rafa made him submit the first set at 2-6.
The second set had a steady start, with the French holding his opening two serve games. Nadal broke into lead at 3-2 and then it was all over for Llodra in the contest. The Spaniard reeled off the next four games to secure victory
at 6-2. He registered a total of 27 winners in the contest to book a date with his all time arch rival, the world number three, Roger Federer, in the semi-final for an epic battle. Federer was victorious against the world number five, Robin Soderling of Sweden,
in the quarter-final to meet Nadal in the round of four on Saturday evening.
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