Rafael Nadal's Biggest Keys vs. Fabio Fognini in 3rd Round at 2013 French Open

Rafael Nadal will take to the court for the second straight day at the 2013 French Open on Saturday. 

The seven-time tournament champion will take on 27th-seeded Fabio Fognini in the third round on Court Philippe Chatrier, after Maria Sharapova and before Novak Djokovic.

Nadal and Fognini have met before, with Rafa thrashing the Italian, 6-1, 6-3 in the second round of the Rome Masters just weeks ago. Nadal broke Fognini five times in that match and won 65 percent of the points on his way to winning the title in Rome for the seventh time in his career.

Here, we'll break down the biggest keys for the defending French Open champion as he gets set to square off against a motivated Fognini who's playing with nothing to lose on Saturday.

Get First Serves In

In order to have consistent success against the 26-year-old, Fabio Fognini, on Saturday, Rafael Nadal will need to hold serve much better than he did in the second round against Martin Klizan.

Nadal put 74 of 100 serves into the box on the first try in Round 2, and he won those points 74 percent of the time. But when Nadal was forced to play a second serve vs. Klizan, he struggled, winning just 10 of 26 second-serve points for the match.

In his second-round win, Fognini made Lukas Rosol pay for missing on his first serve. Rosol managed to put just 57 percent of his first serves into the box, and went on to lose 61 percent of his second-serve points. 

Nadal is talented enough to overcome a bad service day against an opponent like Fognini, but if he wants to reach top form heading into the second week at Roland Garros, it starts with the serve. 

Dominate at the Net

Nadal doesn't need to rush the net on each and every point in order to beat Fognini on Saturday, but if he plays well at the net, he'll increase his chances of winning quickly and erasing some of the doubts about his current form.

Through the first two rounds of the French Open, Fognini has won just 14 of 22 (64 percent) net points total, while his opponents have won a combined 32 of 56 (57 percent). 

Although it's not a huge difference, there's something to be said for Fognini's ability to end points at the net when he decides to move forward. That's something Rafa will need to be well aware of on Saturday, especially considering he likes to stand so far behind the baseline when he's awaiting a return.

Keep in mind that Rafa has won 33 of 45 (73 percent) net points total through his first two matches. 

Attack the Backhand

As a left-handed player, Nadal has an advantage against most right-handed players, and in the case of Saturday's match, Rafa would be wise to utilize his powerful topspin forehand to attack Fognini's backhand early.

The 5'10" Italian star routinely hits clean, solid groundstrokes, especially on clay. But like many players, he'll be much less effective with his backhand than his forehand. In his second-round victory over Rosol, Fognini committed 15 unforced errors on backhand groundstrokes. 

Meanwhile, Nadal committed just eight errors on backhand groundstrokes in his four-set win over Klizan in Round 2.

While this key isn't nearly as critical against Fognini as it has been and would be against a player like Roger Federer, it could be the difference between Nadal winning in straight sets or more.

Assuming Nadal enters Saturday's match 100 percent physically and remains patient throughout, there's no reason he shouldn't be able to nail down all three keys and advance to the fourth round of the French Open with a smooth, impressive victory.

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