Valencia Site
April 6, 2024
Recent NASDAQ-100 Runner-up Rafael Nadal defeated Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2, 6-1 in imrpessive fashion to advance to the second round of the III Open de Tenis comunidad Valenciana. Nadal confirmed his great moment in his first appearance in Valencia by defeating the local favorite in 57 minutes of play.
The 18-year-old from Mallorca played nearly perfect tennis by hitting three aces and never facing a break point on his serve. He was also outstanding on his serve by winning 91% on his first serve and breaking Ferrero's serve five times.
"I didn't play a great match, it was just good. He made it easier for me because he missed some shots he normally doesn't miss." A business-like Nadal said, who immediately after the match went to practice for 30 more minutes.
Nadal used his powerful groundstrokes to put the former No. 1 in the world on the defensive continuously forcing several errors on Ferrero, who could not use the home crowd support to climb up in the match. He will now play Guillermo Garcia Lopez for a spot in the quarterfinals.
WIth the win, Nadal is now 23-5 (11-1 on clay) having won 15 of his last 16 matches. He is enjoying a great start of the season having reached the fourth round of the Austrlalian Open (l. to Hewitt), and claiming back-to-back titles in Costa du Sauipe and Acapulco and the final. He also pushed Roger Federer to five sets in the final of the NASDAQ-100 last Sunday.
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