French Open: Rafael Nadal celebrates somewhat sovereign opening success against Alexei Popyrin
As expected, Rafael Nadal is in the second round of the French Open. The Mallorcan defeated Australian Alexei Popyrin 6: 3, 6: 2 and 7: 6 (3) at the start ( you can read the match in the re-live here! ). Also in the second round is Diego Schwartzman, who had no problems with Yen-hsun Lu.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit:
Jun 01, 2021, 06:47 pm
Up to the score of 4: 3 from Rafael Nadal's point of view, the spectators at the Philippe Chatrier court got to see a perfectly balanced match: Popyrin got off to a cheeky start, occupied the world number three and was initially even closer to the break than his 34-year-old counterpart. But only up to the score of 4: 3. Then the great Dominater of the French Open increased the number of strokes again, benefited from a small phase of weakness of the Australian and grabbed the break - and a little later also the first set.
A break in this match, Nadal managed to make the early break right at the start of the second round. Popyrin was able to set scent brands again and again, but in this phase the 21-year-old didn't want to look beyond anything that could be counted. This was evident in the following moments: Nadal thwarted the Australian's chance at the rebound - and grabbed another break to make it 3-0.
Nadal with problems in set three
The third in the world rankings shouldn't let that go away, the Spaniard confidently transported the two-break lead to a 6-2 set win. And that without really having to go to your personal performance limits. The Mallorcan did not achieve this at the start of the third round, but this time with consequences: Alexei Popyrin sensed his chance, slowly but surely served himself in top form and also became increasingly dangerous when Nadal served.
Thus, Poyprin should also succeed in finally taking this from the Spaniard. The Australian grabbed the break when the score was 3: 2 and even had two set balls when the score was 5: 3. The 21-year-old forgave this in an extremely bitter way. First Popyrin made a double fault, then the overhead volley sailed for miles. And Rafael Nadal? He struck ice cold, got the rebreak and confidently set 5: 5 with his own serve.
Nadal meets Gasquet
The Spaniard then even had two opportunities to post another break, but presented himself unusually error-prone in this phase. With his own serve, however, the 13-time French Open winner made the tiebreak clear a little later. In the short decision, the 34-year-old was clearly the safer and better man on the pitch and quickly moved away to 5: 1. Nadal couldn't take it away, the Spaniard bought the second round ticket 7-3.
In the second round, Nadal is now waiting for Richard Gasquet, who had won the all-French first round duel with Hugo Gaston in three sets. In the third round, the Mallorcan could meet the formidable Briton Cameron Norrie. Diego Schwartzman also came one lap further on Tuesday. The Argentine showed no nakedness against Yen-hsun Lu and won the second round ticket with 6: 2, 6: 2 and 6: 3.
Click here for the draw of the French Open!
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