Rafael Nadal defeated Santiago Giraldo of Colombia in straight sets to reach round 2 of the China Open at Beijing, 6-2, 6-4. His next opponent is Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, whom he defeated in round 4 of the US Open a few weeks ago in New York City.
The first set started slow, but in true Rafa style, the champ made adjustments and broke late in the set to take on a lead, taking the set 6-2. The second set started well, with Rafa breaking in the first game, only to be broken back. The pattern repeated once more, when Rafa broke to be up 5-2 and was broken again. Rafa took the set and the match at 6-4.
On to round 2! Vamos!
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China Open
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Easy easy! I felt very confident about him winning. Go Rafa go to the top rank!!
Good start Rafa. I see ATP Rankings have already put him in #1 spot! Great stuff.
That ATP ranking is for the world tour finals in London… Rafa still trails the Djoker in rankings, even though it is by a very small lead…
Rafa historically has had an unexpectedly tough time against lower-ranked players. He had to close it out as soon as he could after dropping a second serve in the second set. Lukas Rosol, whom Novak Djokovic polished off just today, and Steve Darcis upset Rafa in the last two Wimbledons so he could not afford to trifle with Santiago Giraldo, the 87th-ranked player in the world. Great as Rafa is, he has to learn from this contest for him to get back to his deserved top ranking.
Well done Rafa, keep up the good work, xx
gogogo…