Rafael Nadal has been in fine form since making his comeback to the tennis arena after a gap of 8 months. He reached the finals of the VTR Open and then, he went on to win the Brazil Open. He is currently playing in Abierto Mexicano Telcel and he is doing well in this tournament as well. He defeated Leonardo Mayer of Argentina in the quarter finals yesterday and made his way into the final 4.
Mayer was beaten in the straight sets by Nadal. The Spanish superstar won the match by 6-1, 7-5.
After winning the match, Nadal said, “It’s great that I am winning matches regularly after the comeback. I am getting more confident with each win. Hopefully, I would play well in the next two matches as well and would win my second consecutive title.”
Nadal was off to a flying start in the match. With a couple of consecutive breakthroughs, he took a lead of 4-0 in the opening set. Mayer managed to hold his serve in the fifth game, but, he couldn’t do much after that. With another serve break in the 7th game, Nadal sealed the opening set by 6-1. According to Unibet (the online betting company), Nadal started out at 3-1 to win the first set, but after two games he had become the firm odds-on favourite!
In the second set, things became a bit difficult for Nadal. On a couple of occasions, he came very close to dropping his serve, but, somehow, he managed to save the breakpoints.
There were no breakthroughs in the first 11 games of the second set and at the end of the 11th game; Nadal was ahead by 6-5. A serve hold by Mayer in the next game could have taken the set into the tie breaker, but, the Argentinean player lost his concentration in the 12th game and his serve was broken. That breakthrough secured Nadal’s victory.
In the semi final match, Nadal will take on his countryman Nicolas Almagro.