By James Waterson
Photo Credit:CLIVE BRUNSKILL/AFP/Getty Images
(June 22, 2011) Rafael Nadal eased into the third round of Wimbledon after defeating 69th-ranked Ryan Sweeting of the United States 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 Wednesday.
Nadal turned in a dominating performance against a player he’d already defeated twice before. In addition to hitting 38 winners and a stingy seven unforced errors, he won 74 percent of his service points, 46 of his returning points, and he broke five times.
The first two sets were straightforward, as Nadal never faced a break point. Sweeting seemed more willing to attack in the third set, and his aggressive play paid off as he broke Nadal to level the set at 2-2.
Nadal would break him later in the set, and Sweeting earned another chance to break at 4-3 but he didn’t take his chance.
The Spaniard will face 92nd-ranked Gilles Muller of Luxembourg in the next round. Muller advanced after his opponent, big serving 20-year-old Canadian Milos Raonic, retired at 3-2 in the first set after he slipped during a point and injured his right leg.
Nadal has a 1-1 record against Muller. Their last match was at Wimbledon in 2005, which Muller won in four sets.
Berdych dominated in all areas of the court, as he 74 percent of his service points, 51 percent of his receiving points, hitting 10 aces and 42 winners to nine unforced errors.
His opponent managed to win only four points on his second serve and he had 11 winners to 14 unforced errors.
Although he won 15 points on his return, Benneteau managed to break Berdych once, but that wasn’t enough to counter the Czech’s six breaks of serve.
Istomin broke Fish in the second game of the match, but the American broke at the end of the first set to force a tiebreaker.
After the first set, Fish held serve for the rest of the match, and earned the decisive break in the final sets to win the match.
Despite the slow start, the American played effectively. He won 73 percent of his service points, hit 13 aces and 41 winners to 16 errors. Istomin, ranked No. 65, played a good match as well, winning 64 percent of his service points, hitting 13 aces and 37 winners to 24 unforced errors.
Fish goes on to play Robin Haase, who upset Fernando Verdasco later in the day.
Fish won their only previous encounter at this year's French Open.
Richard Gasquet, the 17th seed, eased into the third round after he beat 66th-ranked Igor Kunitsyn of Russia 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. He goes on to play Simone Bolelli of Italy, who upset 14th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (5), 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Kevin Anderson of South Africa finished his first-round match Wednesday, beating Illya Marchenko of the Ukraine 7-6 (5), 6-7 (7), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. He moves on to play Novak Djokovic in the next round.
Meanwhile, in just his second Wimbledon, 20-year-old Grigor Dimitrov of Belarus advanced to the second round for the first time in his career after he defeated Cedrik-Marcel Stebe of Germany 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (5).