By Chris Oddo | Wednesday September 2, 2015

 

Rafael Nadal had to battle hard but he still found a way past Diego Schwartzman in straight sets.

Photo Source: Clive Brunskill/Getty.

Rafael Nadal played in front of a packed house on Louis Armstrong Court on Sunday, and though he struggled at times to find his range on the forehand and with his footwork, he gave the fans plenty to cheer for as he worked his way to a 7-6(5), 6-3, 7-5 victory over Diego Schwartzman.

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Nadal, a champion in New York in 2010 and 2013, improved to 22-1 in his last 23 matches at the U.S. Open.

“Diego is a great player, good friend,” said Nadal. “Was a tough battle and I feel lucky to be through.”

Nadal jumped out to an early lead in set one, but Schwartzman rallied to break back and force a tiebreaker. For much of the match, the Argentine was able to control the court’s real estate against Nadal. The Spaniard just wasn’t able to consistently step in and dictate with his forehand like he is known for doing, and Schwartzman filled that power void with his own electric game.

But on the big points, Nadal held his nerve. He rallied back from 5-3 down in the first-set tiebreaker to claim what he would later call the most crucial points in the match.

“It was the key of the match,” he said. “That first set was very important. With these humid conditions I think Diego was playing very aggressive and playing at a very high level, so to take that set was very important for me.”

Nadal’s difficulties would not end there. He fell behind by a break in the second and third set but each time he was able to rally to avoid being stretched out beyond straight sets.

“You have to fight,” said Nadal.

Nadal finished with 38 winners against 40 unforced errors, saving five of eight break points to set up a third-round encounter with Fabio Fognini.

The 8th seed has lost two of three to Fognini this season, but he took the last meeting, a straight-sets victory in the Hamburg final. During that match there were some fireworks as Fognini approached and pointed a finger at Nadal during a changeover because he was reportedly upset over Nadal’s pace of play during return games.

After the match Nadal gave Fognini an icy handshake but the pair appeared to be on good terms during the post-final awards ceremony.

In other action on the men’s side on Day 3, Grigor Dimitrov fell to Mikhail Kukushkin in five sets, marking the fifth straight major in which Dimitrov has failed to reach the quarterfinals.

[7] David Ferrer, [9] Marin Cilic, [10] Milos Raonic, [14] David Goffin, [18] Feliciano Lopez, [23] Roberto Bautista Agut and [27] Jeremy Chardy were among the others to advance on a brilliant day for seeds. Dimitrov, seeded 17th, was the only seed to have fallen on the men’s side, as [19] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and [25] Andreas Seppi just concluded early evening victories.