Once again, Rafa Nadal finds himself trying to rebuild his confidence after yet another knockback. This time it came at the Australian Open and the remedy for the Majorcan has been to play on his favourite surface to try and rack up wins.
Nadal had the pleasure of facing one of his best friends on tour, Juan Monaco, who was playing in his first tournament since the summer after suffering a wrist injury. In a repeat of last year’s final, the Argentine forced the Spaniard to play some of his best tennis, in what was a good test for Nadal’s game. Both sets included an exchange of breaks and in the end it was the former world number one who took the clash 6-4, 6-4, in a match that the Buenos Aires crowd enjoyed greatly.
“I’m very happy to be in the next round and thankful to be back in Buenos Aires. Did my friendship with Pico have an influence on the match? No, we’re professionals and this is just a game. I hope to improve tomorrow”, said Nadal.
In the quarter finals, Nadal will face Paolo Lorenzi who, as always, used his heart and desire as his main weapon to overcome Diego Schwartzman by 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
David Ferrer, a hugely popular figure in Argentina, was forgiven for making light work of local player Renzo Olivo and prolonged his winning streak in Buenos Aires to sixteen matches. “Given that it was the first day, and after such a long time without playing on clay, I felt good. I’m happy with the win and advancing to the quarter finals”, claimed in Ferrer in the post-match press conference.
Next up for Ferrer is Pablo Cuevas, who took the all-South American duel against Santi Giraldo 6-4, 6-2.
