ATP Indian Wells: Rafael Nadal thumps Jared Donaldson for perfect start
The 2nd seed and three-time Indian Wells champion Rafael Nadal has grabbed his 51st win at this event and 363rd at Masters 1000 level overall, ousting Jared Donaldson 6-1, 6-1 in 72 minutes. Rafa lost three games against Jared in Shanghai back in 2017 and he had the upper hand today as well, bouncing back after that terrible loss against Nick Kyrgios in Acapulco. The Spaniard lost just nine points on serve, never facing a break point and stealing more than half of the return points for five breaks and an easy path towards the third round. Rafa had 18 winners and ten unforced errors, leaving Jared on 12-19 ratio and dominating in the shortest, mid-range and most extended rallies to seal the deal in no time at all.
Donaldson did a good job to win one match after a long break and a knee injury although he stood no chance against such a strong rival, getting broken in game four when his volley finished in the net. An amazing forehand down the line winner pushed Nadal 5-1 up, closing the opener with a service winner in 34 minutes. The American wasted game points at the start of the second set to suffer a break when his backhand landed wide, spraying another error from that wing to find himself 4-1 down. A similar thing occurred in game seven too, with Jared wasting game points and pushing Rafa over the top with a terrible volley that he should have landed in.
Nadal was excellent on both serve and return and he now plays the 25th seed Diago Schwartzman whom he beat in all previous five matches on the Tour. Rafa has failed to reach the quarter-final on Indian Wells three times, most recently in 2017 against Roger Federer when he won just five games.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2F0NE6C
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