Rafael Nadal clearly set out his intentions to win a seventh French Open title as he brushed aside Juan Monaco 6-2 6-0 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals at Roland Garros.
The second seed was detained for only one hour and 46 minutes on Court Suzanne Lenglen as he set up a clash with fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, a straight-sets conqueror of Janko Tipsarevic.
Argentinian Monaco battled hard in the first set but was blown away thereafter as Nadal stepped up a gear, winning 17 games in succession with a clinical display.
Nadal broke in the fifth game of the match and again in a magnificent next game on Monaco's serve.
Monaco responded to Nadal's shot through his own legs with a delicate drop-volley winner to reach 30-30 but Nadal forced break point in another stunning rally, pinning his opponent in the corner with a forehand down the line before making two volleys to win the point.
He converted and duly served out the set, taking his third set point with a routine overhead.
An early break followed in the second set and Monaco squandered the chance to immediately respond, failing on two break points in the next game.
That was as close as he got in the remainder of the match, with Nadal breaking twice more and then wrapping up the set with a love service game.
An emphatic overhead wrapped up a break in the opening game of the third as Nadal extended his winning run to 12 successive games and there was no let-up, the Spaniard opening up a 4-0 lead with his South American opponent looking all at sea and showing his frustration.
He celebrated ironically when Nadal sent a forehand long in the next game but was broken to 15 and was soon put out of his misery.
1 comments:
I never fell in love with Nadal's game the way I fell in love with Borg's game. I blame it on American TV coverage, which is dull to no end and often time doen't even cover resumption of games after they are interrupted because of weather. I watched Borg's career on foreign TV. It's another matter all together.
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