Rafael Nadal is through to the third round of the Australian Open for a staggering 16th time in his career after disposing of Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann in straight sets.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion remained unbroken throughout his 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, win over the world No.126 who was making only his second appearance in the main draw at Melbourne Park. Nadal’s fierce defensive play continuously applied pressure on the Hanfmann serve who faced at least one break point in eight consecutive service games. The sixth seed hit a total of 30 winners against 26 unforced errors and won 71% of his service points.
“I played against him at Roland Garros a couple of years ago. I know he is dangerous, his result against Thanasi (Kokkinakis) in the first round showed that he was playing great,” Nadal said of his opponent afterwards.
“He’s a player with good shots and a good serve. He has a very high potential. I think today his level of tennis was much higher than his ranking says without a doubt.”
Playing in his 86th match at the Australian Open, Nadal first drew blood towards the end of the opening set when he broke his German opponent two consecutive times during a four-game winning streak to clinch the opener in just under 50 minutes.
A similar pattern occurred during the second set with the Spaniard, who dropped only five points behind his serve, striking towards the business end. Leading 4-3, he broke for a third time in the match to extend his lead before closing out the set.
Admirably Hanfmann did produce glimmers of the talent he has with a series of impressive shots, but they were not consistent enough to trouble the former world No.1. Strolling towards victory, Nadal manoeuvred his way to a game away from victory after breaking once again three games into the third set. However, crossing the finish line was problematic for the Spaniard who saw four match points come and go before prevailing on his fifth after a Hanfmann forehand drifted long.
“I think I need to do some things better but nothing unexpected after a long time without being on court (due to injury). It’s only my fifth match after six months,” Nadal said during an interview with Eurosport UK.
“I know that I need to be positive all the time and accept the negative moments that, for sure, are going to be there.’
“This is the process after an injury and (I have) to stay with the highest positive attitude because that is the only way to be back at the right level as soon as possible.’
“Today was a victory. After tomorrow I am going to have a very tough match.”
In the next round, Nadal will play eighth 28th seed Karen Khachanov or Benjamin Bonzi of France.
