Rafael Nadal, in his second match since Roland Garros, met Andreas Seppi for the eighth time in his career. This meeting, like the previous four, saw the Spaniard take a victory without giving up a set. Counting his 6-3, 6-3 triumph in the second round of the Rio Olympic Games, the world number five has won twelve straight sets on his Italian adversary. Today, Seppi held on for an hour and 48 minutes, but it wasn't long enough to overcome the King of Clay.
Early break leads way for Nadal
It didn't take Nadal long to find his first break in the match. Equipped with a hold at 30, the Spanish superstar was a gifted a break on a double fault after a forehand driven long by Seppi made the score 40-15. The tides quickly changed as the Italian found a break point at 30-40, but a well-timed body serve wasn't return in play, and Nadal served out the game unbroken. In the next game, the lefty struggled to find the right amount of power on his groundstrokes—losing three of the first four points on shots driven long. Nonetheless, he was able to survive through two deuces before botching an overhead and driving a forehand long to lose the fourth game. That game finally got Seppi on the scoreboard, down 1-3.
Nadal powered through his third service game with a hold at 15 as he continued to roll through the set. In Seppi’s third service games, things began to get dicey again for the Italian. At 30-30, the world number 71 slapped a forehand into the net to give Nadal his second break point of the match; two big serves that didn't make it back over the net, however, returned the advantage to his favor. He also won the next point with ease to take his second game in the set to bring his deficit back to two games, 2-4. Another Nadal service came and went, and the lefty held easily, once more, at 30. With the scoreboard now reading 5-2 in his favor, the world number five was one game away from winning the set.
At deuce in the eighth game, Seppi missed a lob—setting up set point for Nadal; that chance would slip away as the 30-year-old hit a forehand into the net, carried a backhand wide, and then proceeded to be aced. Leading 5-3, Nadal served for the set. With a hold at 30, the Spaniard took the set, 6-3. It took 48 minutes and featured Nadal making more unforced errors (20-18) than his right-handed opponent, but the lefty was halfway to the round of 16.
Nadal finishes another in straight sets
The chance to lead for the first time all match proved to be a tricky task for Seppi. While he got off to a strong start—powering his way to 40-30—a double fault brought the game to deuce and a shot wide set up the first break point of the second set. The two continued to trade points through three deuces, but Nadal was unable to break, even with a second chance, and his Italian opponent took the lead first, 1-0. The second game saw Nadal race to a 40-0 leave before immediately giving up three straight points. Undeterred by the slight drop off in play, the Spaniard held on to level the score at one-apiece. Once again, the legendary lefty found a break point; this one came via a backhand wide by Seppi at deuce. However, the paradigm remained unchanged: Nadal couldn't get it to go his way. The fifth seed saw another chance after a backhand winner down the line regained his advantage. On his fourth break point of the set, Nadal finally got the break as his opponent drove a backhand just long. The break was consolidated with a hold at 30, and at 3-1, the 30-year-old was three games away from victory.
Hanging on for dear life, Seppi held at 30, but not without having to play some excellent tennis; the game ended with a perfect ace out wide that just barely caught line. At 30-30 in the next game, the Italian continued his strong play—sending his Spanish opponent to every part of the court before hitting an easy winner to find break point. That chance was quickly depleted by a huge forehand winner down the line by Nadal; the Spaniard was pushed to one more deuce but had little trouble holding thereafter. The right-hander also had little trouble holding at 15, which made his deficit just one game a 3-4. That lead returned to a two-game margin, 5-3, thanks to a hold at 30 from the lefty. Seppi now needed to hold serve to stay alive in the match. That task would prove to be too difficult for the him; after driving a forehand long at deuce, the Italian faced his first match point. He saved that one, but a forehand into the net brought one back faster than one could say “Vamos Rafa.” The match ended on a lucky forehand that hung on the net and dropped over for the Spanish superstar.
With the routine victory, Nadal will move on to face fiftheenth seed Gilles Simon in the round of 16. Through eight head-to-heads, the Spaniard has come away victorious seven times.