Roger disappoints, Rafa doesn’t.
The King of clay had a smooth start against world no. 54 Steve Johnson. Rafa was rock solid to win 6-4 6-3 in just 74 minutes. Match Stats.
Nadal: I played a simple game
Rafa tried to go back to basics (using the old racket might have helped) to comment “I went out there to do a simple game with no complications. I tried to play easily. I know how things work out when you come from losing a couple of matches. I know that you’re a little bit nervous whenever you finish a game, as I finished the other day with Fognini in Barcelona.
I tried to start from the bottom and just go up. I think, especially the last three games, I finished pretty well. I managed to do a couple more things with my backhand.”
Next vs. Bolelli
Rafa will play Bolelli in the third round. Head to head is 4-0 for Rafa that is the overwhelming favourite, but Simone is a tricky customer on clay.
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