Nadal dispatches Gasquet, Djokovic marches on
Print Edition
RAFAEL Nadal made an emphatic return to singles competition yesterday after being sidelined for three months, sweeping aside Richard Gasquet of France in the US$5.4 million China Open in Beijing.
The 14-time grand slam winner won his first-round match in Beijing 6-4, 6-0, overcoming sporadic resistance in the first set before crushing Gasquet in the second.
There were glimpses of vintage Nadal during the second set demolition, with the Spaniard appearing to be back to his athletic best after being sidelined since Wimbledon with a wrist injury picked up in training.
The world number three broke his 28-year-old opponent’s serve in the third game, and while Gasquet brought Nadal to break-point at the next two opportunities, he failed to claw his way back into the set.
Nadal joins top seed Novak Djokovic in the second round after the reigning champion in Beijing won his match after a shaky start.
The Serb defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-2, 6-1 in just 63 minutes, but took a while to get into his stride, trading a series of serves with his opponent early on.
Djokovic will face Canadian Vasek Pospisil in the next round as he bids for his fifth title in Beijing.
World No. 6 Tomas Berdych eased past Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-2 in his first round match. Elsewhere, eighth seed American John Isner beat Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-1, 6-3.
In the women’s tournament, world No. 4 Maria Sharapova defeated Elina Svitolina but fifth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska lost to Roberta Vinci of Italy 6-4, 6-4.
Eighth-seeded Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, the runner-up at last week’s Wuhan Open, also crashed out of the tournament, losing to Germany’s Sabine Lisicki 6-2, 6-4.
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