Rafael Nadal made his long-awaited debut at the 2016 Argentina Open on Tuesday, kicking off his title defense. He was joined in action by fellow Spaniard David Ferrer. Four seeds were in action altogether on Thursday and there were to be no surprises on Thursday in Buenos Aires.
Seeded Players Fare Well
The fans had to wait until the end of the day to see the man that they wanted most, Rafael Nadal. He kicked off his campaign against a home favorite, Juan Monaco. It was a wild match, but Nadal managed to push through 6-4, 6-4. The former world number one wasted no time grabbing the early lead, breaking in the first game of the match. Monaco would put up a fight and the pair exchanged multiple breaks in the set. When the dust settled, the Spaniard had three breaks to the Argentinian’s two, and a set lead to go with them. Nadal would convert both of his break chances in the second set to close out the victory in one hour and 38 minutes. Check out the full recap of that match here.
David Ferrer got off to a flying start in Buenos Aires, cruising past Renzo Olivo 6-2, 6-2. Ferrer saved the lone break point that he faced in the match and broke Olivo’s serve four times, twice in each set. The second seed’s return was on fire as he won 51 percent of the points off of Olivo’s serve. The Spaniard, better known for his return, was even solid on his own serve. He only lost three points on his first serve in the entire match. Olivo’s lone break point opportunity came in the opening set, but Ferrer was lights out after that. The Spaniard only lost one point on his first serve in the second set. In that set, the Spaniard won ten of Olivo’s 14 second serve points, racing to victory in 72 minutes.
Eighth seed Pablo Cuevas was untroubled in reaching the quarterfinals, dispatching Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 6-2. Cuevas won 81 percent of his first serve points and saving three out of four break points that he faced in the hour and 25-minute victory. The first set was tight with Cuevas grabbing the lone break. The Uruguayan was perfect on his first serve in the opening set, winning all 13 of those points. The second set was a little wilder, with both men winning well under 40 percent of their own second serve points. Giraldo grabbed his lone break of the match, but was broken three times as Cuevas won just under 50 percent of his return points in the victory.
The final seed in action was sixth seed Paolo Lorenzi, who found himself under fire from Diego Schwartzman. In the end, the Italian held off Schwartzman for the 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory. Neither man was particularly strong on serve during the match, but Lorenzi managed to do a bit more damage on the return. He won 62 percent of Lorenzi’s second serve points, reaching break point 17 times. He would convert seven of those opportunities, including four in the third set. Schwartzman was the stronger player out of the blocks, breaking twice in the first set. The Argentinian's serve began to let him down in the second though, just as Lorenzi started to serve better. By the third set, Schwartzman’s serve was gone and he only won 10 of 30 points on his own serve. He didn't have a single service hold in the decider.
The quarterfinals will take place tomorrow with Dusan Lajovic looking for another upset against Dominic Thiem. Nadal will take on Lorenzi, while Jo-Wilfried Tsonga challenges Nicolas Almagro, and Ferrer battles Cuevas.