By Chris Oddo | Thursday, May 29, 2014

 

Rafael Nadal had high praise for Dominic Thiem after taking down the Austraian in straight sets on Thursday to reach the third round.

Photo Source: Peter Staples

Media and fans alike had Rafael Nadal on upset alert ahead of his heavily hyped second-round match up with the talented 20-year-old Austrian Dominic Thiem, but in the end Nadal left no doubt about his supremacy on Day 5, pushing past his adversary in a highly entertaining tilt, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

More: Federer Cruises in Round Two

“I think was a dangerous match, dangerous opponent today,” Nadal said. “I played well. I played the way that I would like to play.”

Though Nadal controlled the scoreline all day, Thiem, a rising Austrian who recently drew raves when he upset Stan Wawrinka in Madrid, had his moments. After falling behind 5-1 in the opener, he managed to break Nadal to send a message that he’d be fighting until the end.

That spunk—and Thiem’s talent—was not lost on Nadal.

“I think that this player has a huge potential and could be one of the ones who's going to replace us," Nadal said. "His tennis style is really good. What he could work on is his footwork and how he moves on the court. That's all.”

Nadal would flash plenty of brilliance of his own in this match. He played a remarkable running point in the eighth game of the second set to earn triple set point, and two points later he lashed a forehand down-the-line winner that had a vapor trail behind it for a two sets to love lead.

“I knew what I had to do more or less at the right time when I had to make decisions, when the rallies were long, and I continued to deploy an attacking style and made him move around the court," said Nadal. "I put pressure on him, I think.”

Despite that pressure, Thiem gained a foothold in the third set when he moved ahead by a break. This brought the already appreciative crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier to life for a spell, and they stayed energized as Nadal would break back and take the final four games on the trot to clinch the victory and a spot in the third round where he will meet Leonardo Mayer of Argentina.

Mayer, who owns a 0-2 career record against Nadal, defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili in four sets, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Nadal’s victory is his 61st at Roland Garros in 62 matches. He moves to 313-24 on clay all time, and improves his record in 2014 to 36-6.