Beijing, Oct 10 (IANS/EFE) Spain’s Rafael Nadal coasted to a 6-3, 6-2 victory Wednesday over Alexandr Dolgopolov in his opening match at the Shanghai Masters.
Nadal dominated his service games against the Ukrainian and did not face a single break point during the match, which he wrapped up in just under an hour.
A key to the match was Nadal’s first-serve percentage, which was above 80 percent in both sets. Combined with his 82 percent success rate on first-serve points, Dolgopolov could never make a dent in the Spaniard’s service games.
The 13-time Grand Slam champion, who is back on top of the ATP World Tour rankings this week thanks to a stellar 2013 that has included titles at the French Open and U.S. Open, will next take on Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq in Thursday’s round of 16.
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Berlocq pulled off the day’s biggest upset Wednesday by upsetting big-serving American John Isner 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
In other second-round results Wednesday, world No. 2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia trounced Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-2, 6-0, and world No. 7 Roger Federer of Switzerland topped Italy’s Andreas Seppi 6-4, 6-3.
The Shanghai Masters is one of the biggest hard-court events on the ATP World Tour calendar.
