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Nervous Nadal into Argentina quarters
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TOP-SEEDED Rafael Nadal overcame some uncharacteristic nerves to surge into the quarterfinals of the ATP Argentina Open on Wednesday with an efficient 6-4, 6-0 victory over Argentine qualifier Facundo Arguello.
Nadal, ranked fourth in the world, needed just 64 minutes to win his opening match in the clay court tournament, booking a clash with Federico Delbonis.
The Spaniard’s 714th career win gave him sole possession of 10th on the all-time list in the Open Era, ahead of Boris Becker.
Nadal admitted he felt a few nerves opening his Buenos Aires campaign after a semifinal loss to Italian Fabio Fognini in Rio last week.
“It’s never easy to open when you have lost a match like the one I lost in Rio de Janeiro,” he said. “I started a little nervous, and Arguello played very well in the first set. In the second I felt more comfortable and I was able to attack more.”
Nadal’s loss to Fognini, which ended a run of 52 straight semifinal clay court wins stretching back 12 years, saw the Spaniard drop from third to fourth in the world, the first time he hasn’t figured in the top three since August 2013.
This week he’s trying to reassert his dominance on clay. He is one clay court title away from Guillermo Vilas’ record of 46 triumphs on the surface.
In Dubai, defending champion Roger Federer stormed back from 1-4 down in the first set to beat Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday and claim a spot in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Championships. Trailing 1-4, Federer delighted the packed stadium by winning 20 consecutive points to take the first set of the one hour match.
Top-seeded Novak Djokovic also only needed one hour to move into the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Andrey Golubev.
Tomas Berdych became the eighth active player on the ATP Tour to post 500 career wins when he beat Simone Bolelli 7-6 (7), 5-7, 6-0.
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