Rafael Nadal Must Clean Up His Game Ahead of 4th-Round Matchup vs. Kei Nishikori

Rafael Nadal was finally able to win a match in straight sets at the 2013 French Open on Saturday, taking out 27th-seeded Fabio Fognini in the third round to advance to the round of 16 for the ninth time in nine tries at Roland Garros.

Unfortunately, Nadal could have played a much better match against the 5'10" challenger.

Despite winning in straight sets, Nadal only won 11 more points than Fognini for the match (122-111).

One of the main areas where Rafa struggled on Saturday was on his serve. He was broken twice by Fognini in the first set, erasing his hard work in the return game. In all, he was broken three times on Saturday.

Plus, Nadal only won 63 percent of his total service points for the match, winning just 52 of 81 (64 percent) total first-serve points. Nadal will need to be better on serve against Kei Nishikori, who has won 27 return games total through the first three rounds.

Another can't-miss stat for Nadal on Saturday was his count of 40 unforced errors, which look even worse considering he was able to record just 24 winners on the day.

Sure, mistakes are unavoidable, but as Rafa makes his way deeper into the draw and the competition improves, he'll have to limit those costly errors, especially early on. Nadal committed 16 errors in the opening set against Fognini, which ultimately went to a tiebreak, but could have been worse for Rafa. Per Roland Garros:

Rafa must clean up his game and play with more patience. He must welcome the rallies and let the winners come to him as he has since 2005. There's no reason for Nadal to be pressing or forcing the issue this early in the tournament.

Fortunately, he'll be going up against a 23-year-old in Nishikori who is new to this level of success on the red clay at Roland Garros. Prior to 2013, the top-ranked Japanese star had never been past the second round at the French Open. His best Slam performance overall came in 2012 when he reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Therefore, Rafa can get away with playing his B-game in the next two rounds. But with a potential semifinal showdown with Novak Djokovic looming, the time is now for Nadal to patch up his game, re-energize and refocus heading into the second week at the French Open.

If not, this could very well be the year his reign at Roland Garros comes to an end.

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