By Chris Oddo | Tuesday February 26, 2019
Rafael Nadal eased past Mischa Zverev in straight sets to book a second-round clash with Nick Kyrgios at Acapulco.
Photo Source: Guillermo Sanchez
Two-time champion Rafael Nadal returned to Acapulco with an impressive first-round victory over Mischa Zverev of Germany. The Spaniard, a champion in Mexico in 2005 and 2013, needed just 80 minutes to get past Zverev for the third time in three lifetime meetings, 6-3 6-3.
Nadal was relentless on return, and he used his backhand to great effect early in the match as he broke Zverev early with a backhand lob for the only break of the set.
Nadal saved the only break point he faced in the match and did his part to brush aside injury concerns that have been with him since he revealed that he was unable to practice for a few days prior to the tournament after injuring his hand during practice at Cozumel.
He showed no ill effects on Tuesday and crushed his forehand with the usual verve as he crushed 16 forehand winners and finished the match with 25 winners against 16 unforced errors.
“Happy for the victory of course, it has been a good start for me—never easy against Mischa and especially after a while without competing,” Nadal said. “I had some problems with the hand the last couple of days, without practicing much, so it’s an important victory for me.”
Nadal moves on to face Nick Kyrgios in second-round action. The Aussie eased past Andreas Seppi on Tuesday 6-3 7-5.
“Tough one,” said Nadal of facing the Aussie. “I know Nick is one of the best talented players on tour. Will be a big challenge for me and I hope to be ready for it.”
Nadal owns a 3-2 lifetime record against Kyrgios, and has fallen to the Aussie at big events in Wimbledon (2014) and Cincinnati (2017).
Also moving through on a jam-packed Tuesday in Acapulco was Alexander Zverev. The second-seeded German got past 19-year-old Aussie Alexei Popyrin 6-3 6-3.
Seeds were strong on Tuesday as third-seeded John Isner (d. Mannarino), fourth-seeded Diego Schwartzman (d. Copil) and fifth-seeded Alex de Minaur (d. Jarry) all moved through.