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As predicted Bernard Tomic is making the most of his Australian Open draw and will face Rafael Nadal in the third round. Tomic cleverly used changes of pace to pass Spaniard Feliciano Lopez and Rafa destroyed Ryan Sweeting.
Lopez, who played in an electric pink top with perfect hair, took to the court and didn’t take the suns position into account when he chose which end he wanted to serve from. As a consequence he couldn’t see the ball particularly well and was broken in his opening service game.
While Lopez tried to stay in touch with the teenager, the frequently inconsistent Spaniard showed again why he struggles in Grand Slams. His form fluctuated throughout the match and seemed to struggle with the sun more than the zinc covered youngster.
In the first set Lopez managed to fight back from 2-5 to force a tie break. Lopez then had break point chances to go up 4-0 in the second set but couldn’t convert and couldn’t make the most of it.
Nadal, on the other hand, was all over Ryan Sweeting, hitting balls that averaged 20kmph faster than the American plus the incredible spin that the Spaniard puts on the ball. Nadal pummeled Sweeting 6-2, 6-1, 6-1.
Rafa looked comfortable throughout the match despite sweating so much it looked like his shirt had melted onto him. Sweeting, to his credit, put in a great performance, creating some great shots but it wasn’t enough to trouble the world number one.
“I think I played a solid match. A few mistakes with the backhand, that’s all. My serve improved a lot from the first day.” – Rafa Nadal
“I thought I competed well. I played as best as I could have today. I think I could have served a little bit better. But I felt like in order to win a point, I had to execute perfectly. And he didn’t give me anything for free, which is tough. I’m used to that, playing these matches.” – Ryan Sweeting
“Play very bad, please. That’s what I can say to him.” - Rafael Nadal to Bernard Tomic
“It’s much easier when you are a teenager, I think. When you are 17 or 18, everything is easier. You play with no pressure. You can win, you can lose, everything is fine. That’s a different mentality. You can play more aggressive.” – Rafael Nadal
“I can’t believe that I’m playing him. What an opportunity it is to play him, in a third round as well. It’s a dream come true. Look, I’ve got nothing to lose.
I’m hitting the ball great. My confidence is up there, especially after two matches. I played a left hander before I played him, that’s always good. But confidence wise I’m hitting the ball great, I’m hitting good, serving good. I can put confidence now in this next round.” – Bernard Tomic
Rafael Nadal has secured a comfortable 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win over Ryan Sweeting in little over two hours. Sweeting had been firmly pummeled by Nadal in their last meeting at this years Australian Open and Sweeting was again in trouble and outclassed by the world number one.
