Rafael Nadal added another straight-sets victory to his 2020 Roland Garros tally on Friday, cruising past Stefano Travaglia 6-1, 6-4, 6-0 to reach the Round of 16 for the 15th time.
The 12-time champion converted six of seven break points to beat the Italian in just one hour and 35 minutes. Nadal improves to 44-0 in the opening three rounds at the clay-court Grand Slam championship with his 96th win in 98 contests at Roland Garros.
Nadal was particularly impressive behind his second serve throughout the third-round encounter. The Spaniard dropped just three points behind his second delivery (14/17) and did not face a break point en route to winning his first ATP Head2Head contest against Travaglia.
“We are in a very strange situation after a lot of months without playing much tennis, especially for me [given that] I didn’t playing in America,” said Nadal. “So I don’t know if it is a positive thing or a negative thing [to win quickly]. I take it [as] a positive thing because I am playing quite well to win against a player like Stefano today.”
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Nadal is yet to drop a set in Paris this year. The 85-time tour-level titlist also earned straight-sets wins against Egor Gerasimov and Mackenzie McDonald to reach the third round. Nadal is aiming to match Roger Federer’s record haul of 20 Grand Slam titles by winning his 13th trophy in Paris this year.
Nadal will next face #NextGenATP American Sebastian Korda for a spot in the quarter-finals. The #NextGenATP American, son of 1992 runner-up Petr Korda, defeated Pedro Martinez 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 to earn his sixth win from qualifying at this year’s event.
Nadal made a dominant start under the roof on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The 12-time champion dropped just six points in the first set, winning five of the seven games to love. Nadal dictated rallies with his forehand to gain his second break at 4-1 and ended the set with a forehand winner up the line to earn his 12th consecutive point.
A far more competive second set followed, but Nadal still managed to find a way through his opponent. The Spaniard played with aggression on his backhand side at 3-3 to gain a crucial advantage, before serving out the set to love three games later with a powerful serve up the T.
Nadal cruised to victory in the final set, earning three more service breaks to serve for his place in the Round of 16 at 5-0. On his first match point, the second seed moved up the court and struck a forehand volley winner. Nadal punched the air in celebration, following his 18th win in 22 matches this year.
“The score is because I did a lot of things well,” said Nadal. “I played more aggressive than the previous days so I am very happy for that. I went to the net more often and I hit quite a lot of winners, my serve is working better. So let’s see. I need to keep going and hope to keep improving with every single day.”
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