Defending champion Rafael Nadal in Round 3 at Madrid Open

Madrid, Spain
May 13, 2009 

Rafael Nadal defeated Jurgen Melzer 6-3, 6-1 in the second round of the Madrid Open. Defending champion Nadal got a bye into the second round of th tournament and completely dominated the match against Melzer. He made just three unforced errors and converted all four of his break points. Rafael Nadal will face Phillipp Kohlschreiber in the third round who beat Marin Cilic 6-1, 6-7(5), 7-6(2).

Novak Djokovic powered into the fourth round with an easy win over Oscar Hernandez 6-3, 6-3. Djokovic never faced a break point in the match and broke Hernandez three times in the match. Juan Martin del Potro defeated Tomas Berdych who retired trailing 6-2, 4-1.

In the women matches, Victoria Azarenka defeated Peng Shuai 6-4, 6-1. Vera Dushevina downed Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Top seeds Dinara Safina, Amelie Mauresmo and Elena Dementieva will play later today.

Rafael Nadal quotes
"It's more difficult to play here than on normal altitude surfaces,"
"You can do more with the ball with less effort, but your opponent also does it."
"The way things are now, you can't choose which events you would like to focus on, you have to play everything in order to defend your position," Nadal said. "But it's the same for everyone."

Novak Djokovic quotes
"I was aware the court was quite wet because I saw they had watered it after the previous match. But I was lucky that I fell in a good way so there is no injury,"
"It looked easy, but it wasn't. I played just well enough to win."
"I try not to pay too much attention to rankings," "But I am motivated to win back my third ranking position."

« back