By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, August 7, 2016
Playing his first match in 73 days, Rafael Nadal showed little rust routing Federico Delbonis, 6-2, 6-1, joining Andy Murray in the Rio second round.
Photo credit: ITF Olympic Tennis
Rafael Nadal carried the Spanish flag to open these Rio Olympics.
The 2008 gold medal champion brought plenty of passion and desire to his return in Rio today.
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Playing his first match in 73 days, Nadal showed few signs of rust roaring through 10 of the last 11 games dismissing Federico Delbonis, 6-2, 6-1, to roll into the Rio second round.
It was Nadal's first match since he defeated 99th-ranked Argentine Facundo Bagnis, 6-3, 6-0, 6-3, in the Roland Garros second round in May.
Looking fit and covering the court quickly, Nadal grew sharper as the match progressed.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion incited the crowd with a "Vamos!" following a backhand blast down the line.
In a battle of left-handers, Nadal struck drives with aggression and depth throughout much of the match.
Stepping up to the baseline, Nadal scored his second straight break for a 3-2 lead in the opener and never looked back seizing command.
"(I'm) very happy," Nadal told Bravo Network's Trenni Kusnierek afterward. "It's important for me to play again."
A tendon injury in his left wrist has sidelined the fifth-ranked Spaniard since he withdrew from the French Open. Nadal admitted he wasn't sure himself how the wrist would hold up to the rigors of match play. Playing with taping around the wrist, Nadal admitted afterward he still feels some pain striking the ball.
"Still feeling the wrist when I am hitting, but it was an unbelievable start for me," Nadal said. "Very happy with the result and the way I played. Mentally, I played very aggressive. So very, very positive result for me."
Asked which stroke creates the most discomfort in his wrist, a smiling Nadal replied: "I don't want to say that now, it would be very stupid."
Nadal has won six of seven meetings with second-round opponent Andreas Seppi.
It was a big day for flag bearers as Andy Murray, who carried the Union Jack leading Team GB into the Opening Ceremony Friday night, raced through his opening-round match in 83 minutes.
Launching his quest to become the first man to successfully defend the gold medal, Wimbledon champion Murray broke four times continuing his dominance of Serbia's Viktor Troicki, 6-3, 6-2.
"I'm not defending the gold medal," Murray told ITF Olympic Tennis. "I keep that, I don’t have to give it back. It's trying to win another medal is what builds the pressure and wanting to do something here is the pressure I am putting on myself. I'm not thinking what happened four years ago, which was an amazing experience for me.
"Having the Olympics come so soon after Wimbledon, which was a big win for me, it would’ve been easy to have a bit of a lull after that, but that’s not going to happen with the Olympics. It's worked out extremely well and I hope I can have another good run here."
The second-ranked Murray raised his record to 8-0 lifetime against Troicki, winning the last 11 sets they've played.
"It was amazing, obviously, walking out in the stadium was a once in a lifetime experience," Murray said. "It was an incredible stadium, totally packed.... I had a really, really good night. I was very, very proud to get the chance. "
It was Murray's 13th consecutive victory. He has won 24 of his last 25 matches and points to a change of mentality for his success.
"I think changing my goals a little bit (helped)," Murray told Bravo Network's Trenni Kusnierek. "Before I was kind of focusing mainly on the major events and sometimes the other events I was there mentally as much as I needed to be.
"I sort of realized this year I'm not getting any younger. I want to make the most of every tournament I play not just the majors...Winning is a habit and I managed to win a lot of matches this year."
Murray has won three of five matches with second-round opponent Juan Monaco, who shared this view of the wild Rio wind earlier today. Note how the powerful gusts bend back trees.
"He's from south America so he's quite used to these conditions," Murray said. "Hopefully I can serve a little bit better in the next one and try to be aggressive on his serve. His serve isn't the strongest part of his game. I'll try to put some pressure on his serve."
Seventh-seeded David Ferrer dismantled Denis Istomin, 6-2, 6-1.
Fabio Fognini fought off 36-year-old Victor Estrella Burgos, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-0, and will face either Lukas Rosol or Benoit Paire next.