Rafael Nadal vs. Nicolas Almagro: Score and Reaction from 2015 French Open
Defending French Open champion Rafael Nadal brushed past Nicolas Almagro with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 scoreline Thursday, keeping his hopes alive of a 10th Roland Garros title in 11 years.
Nadal asserted himself early against his Spanish counterpart, who beat him in Barcelona last year, and he never looked likely to drop out at this year's second hurdle. The official French Open Twitter account confirmed Nadal's win:
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Rafa, once again dressed head-to-toe in blue, asserted his dominance with an early break to put himself 2-1 up in the opening set. In typical fashion, he planted his feet at the baseline, using wide strides to cover the width of the court against an opponent who rarely offered a consistent threat.
Almagro found the odd moment of instinctive brilliance, but like so many who face Nadal on clay, he couldn't keep up with his foe's powerful, difficult-to-judge winners. Despite Almagro's best efforts, Nadal served the first set out at 6-4, taking the second of two decisive points to confirm his advantage.
Roland Garros tweeted the pivotal moment:
Nadal immediately broke in the second set, hitting multiple forehand winners to maintain the rhythm he found during his opening-round tie with Quentin Halys.
While Almagro kept within touching distance during the second, he rarely threatened to halt Nadal's grip. Almagro broke with Nadal serving for the set, but in the next game, he hit two unforced errors to all but end his hopes of taking the clay legend down once more, as reported by the tournament's official stats site.
Howard Bryant of ESPN was quick to point out how sharp Nadal's defense looked in the second set:
Nadal confidently swept his opponent from here, securing himself a 5-0 lead in the third set. Almagro's concentration and self-belief dropped, but he managed to win a service game to at least save some blushes at the end. Shortly after, Nadal served the match out with an unblemished game.
Tennis writer Chris Goldsmith suggested nobody should be surprised by the straight-sets win:
Prior to the match, Nadal noted his motivation remains consistent no matter the result, per the ATP World Tour's feed:
He was pleased with his performance against Almagro, reported Julien Pretot of Reuters (h/t Yahoo): "I played a very good match, very solid, I'm happy to be back on court Philippe Chatrier."
After a difficult start to the season, one blighted by injuries, Nadal appears to be growing increasingly confident in a tournament he has dominated since 2005. While many will suggest this is ominous, his placement on Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray's side of the draw ensures much tougher, more thorough tests are still to come.
Still, it's one step at a time. Nadal pulled off a variation of confident shots against Almagro, building on the simple task of beating Halys. He is a growing force in the competition and will rightfully enter the third round with rejuvenated belief.
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