Second round
The Spaniard adds another victory in three sets against Corentin Moutet and leaves physical problems behind
Rafael Nadal reached the third round of Roland Garros this Wednesday, but, above all, he sent a clear message. “We have already talked too much about physical problems, it is time to focus on tennis.” A notice with which he intends to end the monologue in which the murmur around him has become and which he himself described as “an old car that has a hard time starting” Nadal does not want to continue talking about this and that the focus is changed to what really matters, to what he does on the track. There, in another Balearic soliloquy, came Nadal’s 300th Grand Slam victory, hardened against a Corentin Moutet (6-3, 6-1 and 6-4) who never had enough arguments to put the Spanish in trouble.
Another victory for Nadal at Roland Garros and another triumph in a second round that is a fetish for him. He has never failed in his attempt to reach the third round in Paris, but in the unblemished 18-0 he looks at this stage, he has barely dropped a set. He threatened Moutet with being the second to scare Nadal at this stage of the tournament, but the Spaniard deactivated the alarms.
After two placid sets, won in 40 minutes and without excessive service problems, Moutet let go, took advantage of his first break points and went on to take a 2-0 lead against the thirteen-time tournament winner. Scare at the Philippe Chatrier. Scare that soon faded, because Nadal went from 2-0 to 3-5. And there came the second mole of the match; another missed serve. Another opportunity for the Frenchman to get closer to the set, another annulment by Nadal, who broke the next serve and sheathed his 107th victory at Roland Garros, with which he continues to extend the advantage with Roger Federer, who has 105 at Wimbledon.
«I am in the third round of Roland Garros without losing a set. It’s a good start to the tournament. Things could have been better, but also much worse. For now I have played at a good level and this is positive », analyzed Nadal, who did not hesitate to show his preferences between day and night in Paris.
«For me it is a new feeling to play at night. I prefer to play during the day, especially on land, because I have never liked night sessions on land. My preference is always to play during the day, but I understand that the tournament takes advantage of the options it has after what they have invested,” the Spaniard assimilated.
Now Nadal will face Botic Van de Zandschlup in the third round, who took advantage of Fabio Fognini’s withdrawal to advance in the tournament. The Dutchman, number 29 in the world, has never faced Nadal and the best of him at Roland Garros is the third round this year.
Goodbye Jaume Munar
In addition to the Manacorense’s victory, Bernabé Zapata also advanced to the round, defeating the Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz pro 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 and 6-3. Zapata, number 131 in the world and coming from the previous phase, will face American John Isner in the third round. The one who closed his participation in this Roland Garros was Jaume Munar, who wasted two sets of advantage against Diego Schwartzman (2-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 and 6-2).
Novak Djokovic, the main candidate for the title due to his status as number one, had no problem getting rid of Alex Molcan (6-2, 6-3 and 7-6) and will face Aljaz Bedene in the third round.
