Nadal beats Dolgopolov in Shanghai Masters
Beijing : Spain’s Rafael Nadal coasted to a 6-3, 6-2 victory Wednesday over Alexandr Dolgopolov in his opening match at the Shanghai Masters.
Nadal dominated his service games against the Ukrainian and did not face a single break point during the match, which he wrapped up in just under an hour.
A key to the match was Nadal’s first-serve percentage, which was above 80 percent in both sets. Combined with his 82 percent success rate on first-serve points, Dolgopolov could never make a dent in the Spaniard’s service games.
The 13-time Grand Slam champion, who is back on top of the ATP World Tour rankings this week thanks to a stellar 2013 that has included titles at the French Open and U.S. Open, will next take on Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq in Thursday’s round of 16.
Berlocq pulled off the day’s biggest upset Wednesday by upsetting big-serving American John Isner 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
In other second-round results Wednesday, world No. 2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia trounced Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-2, 6-0, and world No. 7 Roger Federer of Switzerland topped Italy’s Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-3.
The Shanghai Masters is one of the biggest hard-court events on the ATP World Tour calendar.
File Photo : AFP
