Rafa Nadal defeats Vasek Pospisil at US Open
Thursday 30 August 2018 07:04, UK
Defending champion Rafa Nadal eased into the third round of the US Open with a regulation 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory over unseeded Vasek Pospisil on Wednesday.
A fresh-looking Nadal, whose first-round match was cut short after opponent David Ferrer retired with a calf injury midway through the second set, started brightly against the Canadian and never looked back.
The top-seeded Spaniard wrapped up the opening set in 35 minutes after breaking early to go 3-0 up as Pospisil, ranked 88th in the world, struggled to settle into a serving rhythm.
The Canadian rallied briefly in the second set, improving his first serve percentage and managing to break Nadal to lead briefly, but the world number one broke back immediately and went on to win four games in a row to seize complete control.
"In the second set I had two games in a row where I had trouble with my serve," Nadal said in a courtside interview. "The first one I saved, the second one I couldn't. I was lucky to be able to break back.
"To win in straight sets is always positive."
The weather has been one of the main talking points of the first week at Flushing Meadows, with high temperatures and humidity forcing organisers to impose "extreme heat" rules to give the players some relief.
The 32-year-old Nadal said he was looking forward to the end of the week, when rain is expected.
"We'll be able to see better tennis than what we saw first couple of days of the US Open," added the 17 times Grand Slam champion.
"Playing under these conditions is, first thing, not healthy, and second thing, is not good for nobody -- not good for the fans, not good for the players. The show is a little bit worse under these conditions."
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Tennis is back on Sky Sports screens with the Laver Cup in September while we will also have coverage of the ATP Finals in November with every match live on Sky Sports. But first, we will be across the final major of the year in New York as the US Open right through to the final with live blogs, reports, features and reaction.
