A good Rafael Nadal starts his Monte Carlo campaign with a 6-3 6-3 win against world no.60 Aljaz Bedene. Rafa was quite sharp for the entire match with the exception of the final part of both sets. In the opener he was making a meal of his opponent to race to a 5-1 lead. Then Rafa lost 2 consecutive games to find himself on a 5-3 15-40 (his serve) score-line. Finally, Nadal held his nerves to win the 1 set 6-3. There was a similar story in the second set when Nadal failed to serve out the match when he was 5-2, but eventually he broke his opponent in the next game.
Nadal. I have been practicing well
The Spaniard commented “Happy for the victory. I know that I have to improve for tomorrow. But I have confidence because I have been practicing very well these weeks.”
Next vs. Thiem
Rafa will have a very interesting 3rd round against rising star Dominic Thiem. Even if the young Austrian is battling with a cyst on his foot, he will be a big hurdle for Rafa that has lost against him in the Buenos Aires semifinal earlier in the season. The head to head is 1-all.
| THE DRAW |
| STRONG START |