Madrid Open: Rafael Nadal cruises into the quarterfinals with a comfortable win
World No.4 Rafael Nadal cruised into the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open with a 6-2 6-2 straight sets win over Simone Bolelli of Italy. The Spaniard had the upper hand in the first set, winning 70% of first serve points as compared to Bolelli’s 67 and also won 76% of first service points as compared to his opponents’s 50.
The Mallorcan also won 7 winners in the first set as compared to Bolleli’s 3 and critically for him, had fewer unforced errors at 12 as compared to Bolelli’s 16.
The second set saw a similar trend as Nadal powered on to take a 4-1 lead and eventually won the set 6-2 to seal a comfortable win and set up a match against Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated Stan Wawrinka earlier, in the quarters.
Talking about the fixture, The 14-time Grand Slam champion said that Dimitrov will pose a serious challenge for him and hoped that he would be ready for it on Thursday.
“He's a very good player. The only way to beat him is to play at really high level. I think he has had more difficult matches than me this week. That's an advantage for him. Let's see what happens. I hope to be ready for it, but I know Dimitrov is a fantastic player and a player that can win against everybody. Great talent,” he said.