Barcelona, April 25 (IANS) Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal beat Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of Conde de Godo here.
The 26-year-old Nadal had no trouble at the beginning of the match and quickly broke serve before racing to a 5-3 lead in the first set Wednesday, Xinhua reports.
Berlocq, who is ranked 63rd in the world, showed spirit, breaking Nadal’s serve and looking to attack the Spaniard at the net, but Nadal kept cool and took the next game to claim the opening set.
The wind whipping around the court complicated matters for both players, but Nadal made his class count, although he needed six match points to finally seal his win.
The pair had met earlier this season in Sao Paulo, where Berlocq had taken a set off Nadal, as Nadal made his way to a tournament victory on his way back to full fitness after being out action since last June with a knee injury.
It was Nadal’s first match in what is a special tournament for him and the Conde de Godo comes on the back of his defeat to Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo last week.
David Ferrer, who is currently world number four, was defeated by Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov 5-7, 6-3, 1-6 in one hour and 56 minutes.
Ferrer said afterwards that he had not been physically and mentally at his best, admitting that the Russian had been more aggressive on court.
The defeat leaves Nadal as favourite for the tournament he has already won seven times, with four of his final victories coming against Ferrer. Nadal’s next rival will be the winner of the match between fellow Spaniard, Pablo Andujar or Frenchman Benoit Paire.
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