Rafael Nadal powered past Yannick Maden 6-1 6-2 6-4 to reach the third round at Roland Garros as he searches for a 12th title.
It was a fairly straightforward match for the 11 time champion, who cruised through the first two sets before recovering two breaks in the third set.
Tougher tests await the Spaniard as he will face David Goffin in the last 32 after the Belgian’s straight sets win over Miomir Kecmanovic.
Meanwhile 6th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas survived a major scare to beat Hugo Dellien in four sets.
As expected this match was about Nadal’s dominance on clay as he bullied the German qualifier in the opening set with his heavy groundstrokes.
The 29 year-old did offer some aggressive play but couldn’t keep it up consistently enough as Nadal powered to a 5-0 lead.
An eventual hold of serve gave Maden confidence but Nadal soon wrapped up the first set in 36 minutes.
https://twitter.com/ATP_Tour/status/1133693267328065536
There were more competitive rallies in the second set, which was good news for Maden and the Chatrier crowd in terms of a positive match.
However the bad news was that this raised Nadal’s level of play as he continued to crush Maden’s serve, which resulted in a further two breaks serve.
After a two sets to lead was gained for Nadal, he did start to lose a little bit of concentration on serve which allowed a slight opening for the German.
There weren’t too many things the world number 114 could celebrate but he did break Nadal’s serve back on two occasions, which will be something he remembers for a long time.
Unfourtunately for the German, Nadal isn’t interested in memories as he just wants to chase history and he would continue to break Maden’s serve.
Victory was secured in 2 hours and 11 minutes as Nadal overcame a late wobble to cruise into the last 32 again in a dominant display.
Next in the bid for title number 12 is David Goffin, who is yet to drop a set and could provide the Spaniard with his first test of the week.
Tsitsipas Survives Dellien Scare
However one player, who didn’t have it his own way was Madrid finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas who edged out Hugo Dellien 4-6 6-0 6-3 7-5 to reach the third round.
The sixth seed had to battle back from a break down in the fourth set to prevent a decider and seal his place in the last 32.
A tough and crucial win means that Tsitsipas will play Roberto Carballes Baena or Filip Krajinovic next.
