Rafael Nadal - Safely Into The Next Round

I only managed to catch the first 3 games whilst on my lunchbreak but looking at the scoreline/headlines it was not too tough for Rafa today.

Match Report:

Rafael Nadal bounced back from his mauling by Andy Murray in Japan on Sunday by opening up his Shanghai Masters campaign with a convincing 6-3 6-2 win over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

The world No. 2 bumped into an inspired Murray in Tokyo, succumbing 6-0 in the final set, and said on Tuesday his form has dipped from the highs of 2010. But he also spoke of his determination to work hard in the final weeks of the season before an assault on the majors in 2012.

And if his performance against Garcia-Lopez is a guide, he would appear to be true to his word as he came out at a rate of knots and never took his foot off the accelerator.

The quick indoor surfaces are not to Nadal's liking and he was beaten by Garcia-Lopez in Bangkok last year, but he came out with intent and a whipped inside-out forehand for a clean winner in the first game suggested he was on form.

Garcia-Lopez saved break points in a 10-minute opening service game, but Nadal continued to probe from the back of the court and worked a break in the fourth game. The one break of serve was enough to take the opening set, as Nadal was rock solid on his own serve.

Nadal, who dropped just five points on serve in the first set, continued the assault at the start of the second and worked an early break, only to throw in a rare poor game as Garcia-Lopez broke back.

But he could not consolidate the break and Nadal quickly penetrated once more, crushing the spirit of his opponent. A string of errors flew off the Garcia-Lopez racket to hand Nadal a third break of serve in the set, allowing him to book a meeting with Florian Mayer in the third round.

ESPN

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