Rafael Nadal began his mission for a 12th Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters title with a crushing 6-1 6-1 win over Roberto Bautista Agut.
The Spaniard is aiming for his 12th title in Monte-Carlo and cruised past Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1 6-1 to reach the third round.
This was Nadal’s first tournament back since withdrawing from his Indian Wells semi-final against Roger Federer and returned in a big way.
The win means he will play Grigor Dimitrov tomorrow after a straight sets win for the Bulgarian over Jan-Lennard Struff.
It was business as usual for Nadal, who is searching for his 12 title in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Roland Garros this year as he brutalised his compatriot with some stunning angles.
There was no way through for Bautista Agut, who had beaten Novak Djokovic twice this year, as Nadal used variety to start the match in stunning fashion.
After falling 5-0 down Bautista Agut decided he had enough and battled to a hold of serve, to the delight of the crowd.
However the 17 time grand slam champion closed out the set in comfortable fashion as he sealed the opening set in 32 minutes.
There's just no way through ⛔@RafaelNadal is home.#RolexMCMasters pic.twitter.com/HiV6rXjVrc
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 17, 2019
There was an opportunity in the second set for Bautista Agut to get into the match as he had three break points to earn the break back.
Despite the chance, Nadal showed why beating him on this surface is the toughest challenge in tennis as he battled to a hold of serve, with a massive roar following it.
After the Bautista Agut resistance slowly died, it was all Nadal as he completed a thumping victory and a successful return to a surface he has been so dominant on for a decade.
In his press conference, Nadal said he doesn’t think about pain in the knee as he is taking it one match at a time, “I can’t pretend to don’t have pain at all, because I never thought about that,” Nadal admitted.
“It’s a long time ago that professional players play normally with pain, because that’s part of the sport to the highest level and no limitations at all. So I was able to move well and be confident with the things that I did.
“Now what I need is play matches, spend hours on court, and of course the victories help. Every victory is a positive energy, confidence on the game, confidence on the body. And that’s what I need today. Today was a good start. Let’s try to continue well tomorrow.”
Tomorrow Nadal will play Grigor Dimitrov after the Bulgarian defeated Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(2) 6-4. Tomorrow’s match is a rematch of Nadal’s thumping win over Dimitrov in the semi-finals last year.
A loss for Dimitrov will see him outside the top 40 in the world.
