WIMBLEDON: Rafael Nadal has eased his way into the second week of the Wimbledon championships after breezing his way past two-time semi-finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
11 years had passed since the last two clashed at a grand slam tournament. On that occasion, Tsonga triumphed at the 2008 Australian Open. This time around, it was all Nadal as he roared his way to a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, victory in 110 minutes. Dismantling the game of his rival, who is currently ranked 72nd in the world.
“I’m very happy. I think I played a great match from the beginning until the end,” said Nadal.
“Returning went well, I was returning aggressively with my forehand and backhand. I did a lot of things well this afternoon. “
“Jo is one of these opponents who you don’t want to face in the third round.” He added.
The dominant display saw the 12-time French Open champion not face a single break point throughout the match. Dropping just 10 points behind his serve as he hit 11 aces and 34 winners past Tsonga. In contrast, his French rival struggled to keep up with Nadal’s intensity as he leaked 22 unforced errors, 10 more than the third seed.
A similar pattern formed in all three sets with the Spaniard dismantling Tsonga’s serve with ease. Breaking him five times in total. The underdog did display glimmers of his talent and even managed to win over the support of the crowd as he battled to stay in the tournament.
Nadal is now though to the fourth round of a grand slam for the 45th time in his career and ninth at Wimbledon. During his first three matches, the 33-year-old has only dropped one set. Doing so against Nick Kyrgios in the second round.
“Every single day is a battle.” He commented about his latest Wimbledon campaign. “It isn’t a surface where I have played a lot of matches during the year.’
“Every match is always very dangerous and I’m happy with the way I played during the first week.”
On Monday Nadal will play either Joao Sousa or Dan Evans.
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