Rafael Nadal has started his Asian swing campaign in impressive style with a 6-1, 6-1, win over Paolo Lorenzi in the first round of the China Open.
Bidding to win his first title is Asia since the 2010 Japan Open, the 14-time grand slam champion displayed glimmers of his best tennis with a series of world class winners against Lorenzi, who was making his tournament debut.
Playing in his first match on the tour since his fourth round loss at the US Open, Nadal settled into the match almost instantly as he dictated the points and bossed Lorenzi around the court. The pressure applied soon rewarded the Spaniard after a Lorenzi forehand shank handed him the first break of the match for 2-0. After his blistering start, Nadal did show signs of faltering as he successfully fended off a duo of break points. Nevertheless, the power produced in the shots from Nadal proved too much for his opponent as he broke for a second time in the match to lead 5-1 before closing the set out with a backhand volley at the net.
Continuing his dominance in the match, Nadal was gifted an early lead in the second set thanks to back-to-back unforced errors from Lorenzi. There was no chance of a momentum switch as the Spaniard continuously produced a series of blistering forehand winners, triggering numerous cheers from the crowd in Beijing.
Lorenzi’yi 6-1/6-1 yenen Rafael #Nadal Pekin 2.turda RamosVinolas/Mannarino galibiyle oynayacak. pic.twitter.com/3MOjuINXwL #ChinaOpen
— TenisNot (@TenisNot) 4 October 2016
The one-sided encounter was completed when a lengthy rally concluded with a Lorenzi unforced error to hand the second seed his 38th win of the season.
In only his fourth tournament since the French Open in May due to a wrist injury, Nadal produced 22 winners during his 63-minute display again Lorenzi. In addition the 30-year-old also produced five aces and 18 unforced errors, many of which came from the backhand side.
In the second round Nadal will play either compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas or France’s Adrian Mannarino.
Point of the match
VINTAGE @RafaelNadal! Check out this Nadal magic during his R1 meet with Lorenzi in Beijing. https://t.co/BmumqVcmrF pic.twitter.com/P15SmpCdmq
— TennisTV (@TennisTV) 4 October 2016
