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Miami - Rafael Nadal came back from an awful first set to
defeat Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber 0-6, 6-2, 6-3 and advance to the fourth
round of the Miami Open on Sunday.
The Spaniard, playing his 1 000th ATP match, suffered just
the 14th 0-6 set of his career, claiming just 33 percent of first serve points
won and making a string of unforced errors.
After looking badly out of sorts, Nadal was able to
rediscover his form in the second set and in the end ran out a comfortable
winner.
Nadal said that there was little he could do against
Kohlschreiber's outstanding play in the opening set.
"He was doing everything good. So that's sport, as I
said hundreds of times and when somebody is playing the way that he was playing
the first set ... he was playing too good. That's it," said Nadal.
"The positive thing is I handled the pressure very well
after a very tough first set. I resisted well the first few games of the
second, and then I think I played a great second and third set," he said.
Nadal said the key to his comeback had been his ability to change the tempo and rhythm of the match.
"It was obvious that the points had been too quick. He
was able to return so quick and to hit every ball as hard as he could. So I
needed to play a little bit longer points.
"It's not about being more or less aggressive, it's
about changing a little bit the position on the court. I went back on the
return. I tried to play a little bit higher balls against his backhand.
"That happened ...and I think my serve worked so good in the second and third set," added Nadal, who next faces France's Nicolas Mahut. Mahut beat Argentine Guido Pella 6-4 6-3.
Japan's Kei Nishikori came through a tough test against
Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (7/2), 6-7(5/7) 6-1.
Last year's beaten finalist, Nishikori will face Argentine
Federico Del Bonis, who beat Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 (7/5), 6-1.
Verdasco has yet to post a win against a top ten opponent
this year but showed plenty of spirit in a two hours 44 minute contest on centre
court at Crandon Park fighting back to win a second set tie-break.
But Nishikori stepped up in the third, running away with the
set to ensure his progress.
"I knew it was going to be a tough one," Nishikori
said. "Fernando is a very solid player. He has a great serve and great
groundstrokes. I knew it was going to be long rallies.
"But it was a shame when I was up a break in both first
and second sets and both went to 7-6. I made some mistakes when I was up a
break. But in the third set I was very focused," he added.
Injury-plagued world number five Milos Raonic pulled out of
the tournament shortly before his match against American Jared Donaldson,
citing a recurrence of a hamstring injury.
Canada's Raonic originally suffered the injury in the semi-final at Delray Beach and was forced to forfeit the final against American Jack Sock. He then missed this month's Masters event at Indian Wells.
Results from ATP and WTA Miami Open Sunday (x denotes seed):
Men
3rd rd
Rafael Nadal (ESP x5) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER x26) 0-6, 6-2, 6-3
Nicolas Mahut (FRA) bt Guido Pella (ARG) 6-4, 6-3
Jack Sock (USA x13) bt Jiri Vesely (CZE) 6-3, 7-6 (7/0)
Jared Donaldson (USA) bt Milos Raonic (CAN x3) -- walkover
Fabio Fognini (ITA) bt Jrmy Chardy (FRA) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
Donald Young (USA) bt Benot Paire (FRA) 7-6 (7/2), 6-4
Federico Del Bonis (ARG) bt Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 7-6 (7/5), 6-1
Kei Nishikori (JPN x2) bt Fernando Verdasco (ESP x25) 7-6 (7/2), 6-7 (5/7), 6-1
Women
3rd rd
Angelique Kerber (GER x1) bt Shelby Rogers (USA) 6-4, 7-5
Risa Ozaki (JPN) bt Julia Goerges (GER) 7-6 (7/5), 6-3
Johanna Konta (GBR x10) bt Pauline Parmentier (FRA) 6-4, 6-0
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x7) bt Taylor Townsend (USA) 6-4, 6-2
Venus Williams (USA x11) bt Patricia Tig (ROM) 6-3, 6-0
Samantha Stosur (AUS x14) bt Shuai Peng (CHN) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
Lara Arruabarrena (ESP) bt Madison Keys (USA) 7-5, 7-5
Simona Halep (ROM x3) bt Anett Kontaveit (EST) 6-3, 6-0
