The big guns advance in Madrid.
NADAL – DAVYDENKO 6-2 6-2
As all know Rafa is 100% unhappy about the blue clay .
The Spaniard entered the court without a good feeling, but he demonstrated once again why his adaptability to different conditions helped him in his striking career.
Davydenko had a decent start to bring the match on a 1-1 scoreline with Nadal in clear discomfort on the blue dirt. Then Rafa changed completely his game to attack continuosly his opponent. The reasoning was perfect. He understood he couldn’t chase the ball on the baseline given the slippery conditions, so he had to play like it was a hard court.
The strategy worked perfectly to allow the King of (also blue?) clay to win the match 6-2 6-2 in 80minutes
“I played much better than I expected,” said Nadal. “I am very happy to be in the third round and tomorrow I will probably have a very difficult match against Verdasco.”
Nadal played Verdasco 14 times and he won all of them (the last one was in Barcelona last week)
DEL POTRO – YOUZHNY 6-4 7-6 (1)
It took 2 hours for the world nr.11 to defeat the Russian. It was a tricky match for the Argentine against a solid opponent.
The first set was determined by a single break on a 2-2 scoreline after Delpo forced the Russian to an error after a ferocious return of the serve.
In the second set, both players gained 2 breaks ecah to go to the tie-break. Youzhny won the first point to lose the other 7.
Juan Martin will play Cilic in the third round. Head to head is 5-2 for Del Potro (2-0 on the red clay)
TSONGA – HARRISON 6-2 7-6 (4)
Good game for the Frenchman that downed the upcoming American in 81 minutes in straight sets.
Jo was perfect in his service games not to concede a break point (4 aces, 78% 1st service in, 80% points on his 1st serve). On the other side Ryan was a bit struggling to be broken twice in the first set. The second set was decided at the tie break where Jo’s experience took over the young american.
Tsonga will play Dolgolopov in the next round. The two players head to head statistic is 2-2 and this would be the first time they play each other on the clay.
OTHER RESULTS
Wawrinka – Melzer 6-1 6-4
Simon – [W] Garcis Lopez 6-4 6-3
Tipsarevic – [Q] Delbonis 7-6 (5) 6-7 (6) 6-3
Gasquet – Troicki 7-5 6-3
Almagro – Granollers 6-3 7-6 (3)
Ferrer – Stepanek 7-6 (4) – 6-2
Cilic – Isner 7-6 (4) 7-6 (3)
Dolgolopov – Seppi 6-7 (5) 7-6 (5) 6-3
Monfils – [Q] Andreev 6-3 1-0 ret
Verdasco – Falla 6-7 (4) 6-4 6-4
3RD ROUND MATCHES
Djokovic – Wawrinka
Simon – Tipsarevic
Federer – Gasquet
Almagro – Ferrer
Cilic – Del Potro
Dolgolopov – Tsonga
Berdych – Monfils
Verdasco – Nadal
