Respectful Nadal packs off Hewitt
Print Edition
WORLD No. 1 Rafael Nadal hammered former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-3 on Saturday to reach the third round of the Miami Masters hardcourt tournament.
The top-seeded Spaniard and his veteran Australian opponent took to the court two and a half hours late due to long matches that preceded them.
But Nadal, who received a first-round bye, ripped through the opening set in 27 minutes and eventually dispatched double grand slam winner Hewitt in 66 minutes.
“It’s great for me to be back after not playing since 2012. I really enjoy it here,” Nadal said. “There was no better way to start my return than with a win like this.”
World No. 1 Serena Williams and Russian star Maria Sharapova each battled through three sets on Saturday to advance into the fourth round on the women’s side.
Nadal next faces Denis Istomin, who beat Dmitry Tursunov 6-7 (8/10), 6-0, 6-3.
Nadal took his sixth win in a row over Hewitt, improving to 7-4 in their rivalry overall.
“I have the greatest respect for Lleyton,” Nadal said. “He’s a great example to me and the other players the way he has come back from injuries.
“He always keeps fighting.”
Hewitt, who collected his 600th career ATP win on Thursday, said Nadal was simply too much for him to overcome.
“He hit the ball really clean right from the start,” he said. “I hung in there and tried everything I could but he was just too good. Even when I pushed him, he got back into the point.”
Reigning Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka downed Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the men’s third round.
Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych began with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 win over Frenchman Stephane Robert while 10th seed John Isner defeated Donald Young 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4.
Defending champion Serena Williams and last year’s runner-up Sharapova struggled mightily to survive, with five-time finalist Sharapova requiring nine match point to book her win. Sharapova beat Czech Lucie Safarova 6-4, 6-7 (7/5), 6-2 in a battle which took five minutes short of three hours to complete. Sharapova let out a scream of relief when she finally went through as Safarova’s shot hit the net.
Williams waited out a 45-minute rain third-set interruption before dispatching France’s Caroline Garcia 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
