TENNIS ATP BEIJING – Rafa Nadal dropped just four games to ease past Richard Gasquet 6-4 6-0 in his come-back match after a 13-week lay-off due a wrist injury. The Spanish star played an exhibition match last week in Astana against Jo Wilfred Tsonga but has not played an official ATP Tour match since his shock defeat against Nick Kyrgios in the Wimbledon fourth round. Nadal played a solid match and saved all the three break points he faced during the match. Diego Sampaolo
“It was an important day for me, the day that I am back. I am happy with the way that I played. After three months without a match, winning a match against a player like Richard is a very positive comeback for me. More important than winning or losing is spending time on court. That’s the key for me playing matches. Every single round is tough. Every victory is so important for me. I don’t aim at winning tournaments here in Asia”, said Nadal.
Andy Murray recovered from a set down to battle past last year’s Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz in three hard-fought sets with 6-7 (9-11) 6-4 6-2 and got through to the second round of the China Open in Beijing just two days after saving five match points against Tommy Robredo in Shenzhen where he won his first ATP title after a 15-month drought.
Andy Murray faced a tough first set against Jerzy Janowicz when he went down 1-5 with two breaks down but he reeled off five of the next six games in a row to force the first set to the tie-break. Janowicz won a hard-fought tie-break with 11-9 to clinch the first set.
Murray broke serve in the ninth game of the second set for 5.4 to take the second set. The Scotsman got the break early in the third set as Janowicz made a double fault and broke serve again en route to clinching the win in the decider in two hours and 28 minutes.
Weather conditions were completely different from those he faced in Shenzhen and this was the reason for his difficult start.
“The conditions are different to what I played in Shenzhen. When we finished the match today it was 11°C. When we played in Shenzhen, it was 33-34*C and incredibly humid. It was a quick turnaround to get used to it. I would have rather lost the first set 6-1 than putting all that work in and not getting a reward from it. I am really happy with the way I managed to fight through in the end”, said Murray
China Open defending champion Novak Djokovic also faced little opposition dropping just three games against over Guillermo Garcia Lopez for a 6-2 6-1 win in his favourite tournament where he clinched four of the last five titles Djokovic, who won his 20th consecutive win in the Chinese capital, will face Vasek Pospisil in the next round.
Tomas Berdych also cruised past Feliciano Lopez with a 6-2 6-1 win to set up a tougher second round match against Viktor Troicki. Berdych could face a potential quarter final against John Isner who beat Santiago Giraldo with 6-1 6-3 to set up a second round match against Tommy Robredo, who lost the Shenzhen final against Andy Murray. Robredo fought back from a set down to battle past Andreas Seppi with 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2. Seppi rallied from 1-4 in the second set by winning four consecutive games but Robredo clinched a very long 11th game where the Italian player did not convert on nine break point chances before winning the tie-break with 7-4. Ernests Gulbis eased past Italian top player Fabio Fognini with with 6-3 6-4 to set up a second round match against Martin Klizan. Gulbis, semifinalist at the Roland Garros, hit 31 winners to 9 unforced errors.
