Rafael Nadal recovered from a slow start to beat America’s Jack sock during a marathon encounter at the China Open. The 9-time French Open champion took the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, after two hours.
The third seed got off to a sluggish start against a focused Sock, dropping his serve twice during the opening set. In the sixth game, Nadal had four break point chances to level the set at 3-3 but was unable to convert any as the world No.30 moved ahead. Serving at 3-5 to stay in the set, Nadal was broken for the second time as Sock took the lead after 38 minutes. During the opening set, Nadal won 57% of his service points compared to Sock’s 72%.
Dropping the first set, Nadal responded automatically in the second as he grabbed the early break to move ahead 2-0. The early offensive by the Spaniard was vital for the outcome of the second set as neither player could break each other during the remainder. In the business end of the set, Sock had an opportunity to level proceedings at 5-5 but was unable to convert as Nadal battled back to force a third set.
Watch: Great defensive play from both Jack #Sock and Rafa #Nadal in #ChinaOpen QF. http://t.co/kRsZ9udpkC http://t.co/K4wFN0NPVZ
— TennisTV (@TennisTV) October 9, 2015
The first six games of the decider went according to serve with both players displaying impressive shots. In the crucial stages of the match Nadal used his years of experience to aid him as Sock began to be more erratic on the court. Throughout Nadal’s career, he has played in 227 Grand Slam singles matches compared to Sock who has only played 26. At 3-3 Nadal accelerated the pressure on his American rival by producing stunning shots to break the American and lead 4-3.The break enabled the third seed to finally close out the match after a two-hour struggle. In the final game of the match, the world No.9 broke Sock for the third time in the match to move into the semi-final of the China Open.
During the testing two-hour match, Nadal produced 25 unforced errors compared to 19 winners. In addition he won 76% of his first service points and 52% of his second.
In the last four Nadal will play either Pablo Cuevas or his 2015 nemesis Fabio Fognini. Nadal has played the Italian four times this year, losing to him on three occasions.
