Rafael Nadal vs. Dudi Sela: Score, Reaction from 2015 Australian Open
Rafael Nadal enjoyed a much-needed simple route into the fourth round of the Australian Open, beating Dudi Sela 6-1, 6-0, 7-5 in Melbourne.
The Spaniard raced into an early lead and never looked back against an opponent who remained in good spirits throughout. Nadal's victory was confirmed by the competition's official Twitter account:
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In truth, this was exactly the type of match Nadal would have craved after his tiring five-set ordeal against Tim Smyczek earlier in the week.
Sela wasn't able to get the No. 3 seed moving like Smyczek, who consciously sent Nadal to all corners of the court to play on his likely lack of fitness (before the tournament, Nadal had completed only nine tour matches since July).
The Spaniard quickly found his range against Sela, standing firmly behind the baseline to batter his opponent into submission. He secured a break point in the opening game before Sela dented the scoreboard for the first time at 4-1.
The Israeli competitor was unable to gain momentum, though. Nadal captured the first set in under half an hour, per the tournament's feed:
Nadal won 92 percent of his first service points in the opening exchange, compared to Sela capitalising on just 53 percent of his first deliveries, as recorded by the competition's website.
At 2-0 up in the second set, Nadal played a stunning forehand to Sela's right, sneaking his shot into the tiniest of gaps to summarise his confidence. Two games later and with the score sitting at 4-0, Sela jokingly asked Nadal to surrender a single point, much to the amusement of the crowd and his opponent.
Nadal soon found himself looking at three set points. Sela pulled the game back to deuce, but he was unable to begin a comeback and surrendered the second set without putting his opposite number under pressure.
Nadal remained stationed in the centre, methodically stroking with the power and accuracy we have come to expect over the years.
The Australian Open feed provided another update at this point:
Sela began to offer some resistance in the third. He missed two break points with the score at 3-2, a failure which was repeated when he fired out at 5-5. Sela missed all seven of his opportunities to break throughout the match, before Nadal served to make it 6-5.
Despite thumping his first match point wide of the mark, Nadal powered home his second opportunity with a terrific forehand to secure victory. He spoke of his recent troubles after dismissing Sela:
Such a result will be more than welcome for Nadal. He showed no signs of the dizziness that hampered his performance against Smyczek, nor did he crouch to the floor in a desperate attempt to catch his breath. Instead, he displayed the type of control which indicates he is gathering confidence ahead of the second week.
This will be amplified by Roger Federer's exit to Andreas Seppi, a result which dramatically opens the draw up as the vital stages arrive. Nadal faces South African Kevin Anderson in the next round after he defeated Richard Gasquet earlier in the day.
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