Rafael Nadal vs. Donald Young: Score, Reaction from 2015 Indian Wells

Rafael Nadal didn't have a tremendous amount of trouble defeating American standout Donald Young 6-4, 6-2 in Tuesday's third-round match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.

The Masters showcase saw Nadal reign superior despite playing well below his gaudy standards. It wasn't an aesthetically pleasing first set for either player to say the least, as TennisTV highlighted:

Shad Powers of The Desert Sun weighed in on the action before Nadal got the upper hand:

It's frankly shocking to see Nadal have one winner to 15 unforced errors in any given stretch of a match. That he still won the set in spite of those horrendous numbers is quite mind-boggling.

Both players' service games were shaky. The big difference came on second serves, where Nadal won half of 22 points, while Young managed to take a meager seven of 24 such rallies.

Howard Bryant of ESPN.com highlighted a key sequence in which Nadal overcame a 3-1 deficit in the first set, accentuating the poor play that defined his slow start:

But Nadal was hot out of the gates in the second, breaking Young to start, and he continued to benefit from Young's mistakes. The Spaniard's steely resolve that has helped him become one of the greatest of all time helped him through to the fourth round.

Commentator and former world No. 1 tennis player Jim Courier hinted that Nadal's star power helped him win the day, via SpanishTennisSecrets:

Finishing like the champion he's proven time and again to be, Nadal smashed his first ace to go up 40-15 in the final game before sealing the deal in another routine victory.

Once the tight opening set had expired, Young couldn't get out of the funk he seemed to be in in falling to 2-16 against top-10 opponents. Even with Nadal affording him plenty of opportunities, the 25-year-old Young couldn't capitalize and failed to weaponize his serve as an equalizer on the hard courts.

Although the 2015 campaign still has all the makings of being Young's best to date, he will have to feel that he missed a golden opportunity to upset Nadal given how ugly the match was at the beginning.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

The bottom-line result is just what Nadal wants, but he can't be pleased with how he performed overall even with an improved second set. Playing this way within the next couple of matches will likely result in Nadal getting bounced from Indian Wells earlier than expected.

Next up for the third-seeded Nadal is No. 13 Gilles Simon, who has managed just one win in seven career matches versus the living legend. The key for Nadal is to get back on track before the competition really kicks up in the quarterfinals and beyond.

As someone who's won this tournament three times, Nadal should have plenty of success to draw on, and his uncanny ability to put adverse moments on the court behind him will continue to serve him well too.

Note: Stats and match information courtesy of ATPWorldTour.com unless otherwise noted.