TORONTO – In his opening match against Nicolas Massu, Rafael Nadal proved that he still has some work to do before slaying the Federer dragon.
While the Spaniard won in straight sets (6-3, 6-2), the story of the Rogers Cup first-round match was the number of unforced errors that dominated play, almost from the opening game.
The unforced errors gave Massu three break points on Nadal’s serve in the match’s second game but he could not finish off his opponent. As a result, Nadal just sat back and capitalized.
The game clearly had an effect on Massu who challenged twice and was unsuccessful in both attempts.
Errors also plagued Nadal who double-faulted after breaking Massu’s serve in the fourth game. This allowed the Chilean to even the set at two games apiece.
It was clear that Massu was getting frustrated after a Nadal challenge in the seventh game of the first set was successful. As Massu’s emotion seemed to get the best of him, the Spanish conquistador only got stronger. The seventh game the first set was clearly the turning point of the game as Massu double-faulted to give Nadal the break. Nadal also had a successful challenge in the same game.
While he did not look as dominant as some might have expected, the No. 2 seed in the Rogers Cup clearly was the better player on Tuesday. At a post-game press conference, Nadal said that he knew he would have a battle when he saw the draw.
“Yeah, when I saw the draw, I say, no, is not easy match,” he said. “But if I win, going to be important because I going to run, I going to put a lot of balls in because Massu is not similar player than me, no, but is a clay court player, too, not serve and volley, play attack every time.”
Nadal faces Korean Hyung Taik-Lee on Wednesday evening.
