By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Rafael Nadal did not face a break point dismissing Florian Mayer in straight sets in his Australian Open opener.
Photo credit: Getty
Racing to his right, Rafael Nadal dug out a slice backhand then darted left back to the opposite sideline where he curled a banana forehand winner down the line.
The 2009 Australian Open champion showed the burst to go coast-to-coast in a controlled wire-to-wire win.
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Nadal banged 27 forehand winners and did not face a break point taming tricky veteran Florian Mayer, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, to advance to the Australian Open second round for the 11th time in 12 appearances.
Growing stronger as the match progressed, Nadal worked the 33-year-old German over in baseline exchanges.
As on-court temperatures soared to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, Nadal was quick to dance around his backhand and increasingly fired his forehand with damaging intentions.
“I have been practicing quite a lot,” Nadal told Jim Courier in his post-match interview on court. “This year, I practice even a little bit more. That’s important for me. I was able to work on a lot of things in Mallorca.
"Today, was a good first-round for me. Florian is a tough player to play against. He doesn’t have the typical game. He is going to the net, he change a lot the rhythm, so you need to be very careful with every single shot he hits.”
A year ago, Nadal was bounced out of the opening round by former Davis Cup teammate Fernando Verdasco, who handed the King of Clay the first Australian Open first-round loss of his career.
Determined to get off to a fast start, Nadal broke for 3-1 and quickly consolidated for 4-1.
Staring down a 0-30 deficit in the seventh game, Nadal strung together four straight points holding for 5-2 on a netted Mayer backhand. The lanky German fended off four set points in the eighth game, including an impressive leaping backhand winner down the line he squeezed into the corner.
Undeterred, Nadal bended a second serve ace down the middle—his second ace of the game—closing the 38-minute opening set.
Driving his returns deeper in the second set, Nadal pressured serve in the opening game of the second set, but ran through a mid-court forehand and scattered a backhand pass down the line wide as Mayer held firm.
The world No. 49 flashed his fourth ace down the middle holding for 4-3.
Determined defense by Nadal and a badly bungled overhead from Mayer created the first break of the second set. The German armed an indecisive smash. On the next point, Nadal dashed side-to-side three times in a row, curling a forehand winner down the line for a break point. Missing his windmill forehand, Mayer dropped serve as Nadal broke for 5-4.
Though the ninth-seeded Spaniard will certainly aim to improve on his 3 of 12 break-point percentage, he should be pleased with his serving performance. Nadal served 70 percent, permitted just four points on his second serve and smacked three of his six aces when serving out sets.
Nadal thumped his third ace for triple-set point and snatched a two-set lead when a Mayer scooped forehand strayed long.
Breaking for a 5-4 lead in the third set, Nadal ripped a running forehand winner down the line, concluding a two-hour, four-minute victory.
“For me, it’s a great victory and I’m very happy to have the chances to keep playing here,” Nadal said. “The body is good and that’s the key for me. After Roland Garros everything was so difficult. Too much focus on the wrist and that’s in the past now.
"So I’m just happy to be healthy and happy to be on the tour again.”
Next up for Nadal is a second-round date with 2006 finalist Marcos Baghdatis, who held a 6-3, 3-0 lead over veteran Mikhail Youzhny when the Russian veteran retired.
The 30-year-old Spaniard has won eight of nine meetings with the 36th-ranked Cypriot with Baghdatis’ lone win coming in the 2010 Cincinnati quarterfinals.