Rafael Nadal eased past Lukas Rosol 6-2 6-2 to advance to the third round of the BNP Paribas Masters 1000 in Paris Bercy. Last week Rosol pushed Nadal to the tie-break of the third set but this time the Spanish 14-time Grand Slam champion played a solid match in which he dropped six points on his serve.
Nadal opened up a 3-0 lead in the first set before Rosol managed to hold her serve. Nadal raced out to 6-2 in the first set where he fired eight winners, including three aces.
In the second set Nadal broke serve in the fourth game to pull away to a 3-1 lead. Nadal broke for the fourth time in the match as Rosol was serving to stay in the match at 2-5.
Nadal has confirmed his good period of form in this period of the year one week after finishing runner-up in his final of the year at the Basel Swiss Open to Roger Federer who won in three sets with 6-3 5-7 6-3. Nadal now leads 4-1 in his head-to-head matches against Rosol, who famously beat his Spanish rival at Wimbledon in 2012
“I played well last week in Basel. I finished the tournament feeling good. I am just happy about the last three weeks playing two finals in Beijing and Basel. I lost both finals in three sets. I am competing well against very good players. I am happy about the way that I am practicing. It is important for me to play well”
Nadal is also playing the doubles tournament this week with Leander Paes. They were beaten by Denis Inglot and Robert Lindstedt 6-3 6-4 in the first round.
“I am playing the doubles here because Leander Paes asked me to play a few months ago. Doubles is another chance to practice under less pressure. I am enjoying this king of thing because I feel that I am working on things that we believe can help for the future. It’s good to practice differently when you feel there is something you need to improve. At the start of the season I feared that I could not qualify for the ATP Finals in London but I have always believed that I was going to be in the top eight at the end of the season. I had the feeling that I was going to play better. I believe my level is to be there in the top eight. Even if I have had tough moments this year, the year is long”, said Nadal
Nadal won nine of his fourteen Grand Slam titles in Paris. “It’s a special feeliing to come to this city. It’s the most important city in my career. I am happy that the Palais Omnisport has been renovated.
Nadal will face the winner of the match between Kevin Anderson and Dominic Thiem.
