As the French Open advances to the third round, the favorites have advanced with the exception of Stanislas Wawrinka in the men’s single category.
The third round fixture between Rafael Nadal and Leonardo Mayer looks to be an interesting match-up with the Spaniard all fired up.
After an excellent 2013, Nadal looked hungry as ever to dominate the tennis circuit again. Claiming back the No. 1 spot, Nadal’s 2014 started with a Qatar ExxonMobil Open title before a brief injury scare and some upsets along the way, especially in the quarter-final of the Barcelona Open, souring the early run.
Nadal won the ATP Madrid Masters but lost to Novak Djokovic at the Rome Masters finals on his favoured clay court.
The Roland Garros story till now has been a straight line as the straight set wins over his opponents. In his most recent match against Austrian Dominic Theim, he won in straight sets but the youngster did trouble the Spaniard with his powerful groundstrokes.
His opponent in this match, the Argentine number 65 in ATP Rankings, Mayer defeated Teymuraz Gabashivli with some effort, the match stretching four sets.
He has now equalled his 2010 Australian Open run where he reached the third round ultimately crashing out.
Both the players have met each other twice earlier, once on hard court at Indian Wells, USA and second on clay at Acapulco, Mexico. Nadal dominated both the matches and won them; Mayer’s record against Nadal being no win, which is on expected lines.
Nadal was a tad cautious though, as he said: “He’s very powerful when he serves [and hits his] forehand.”
He added: “His backhand is also really good. He’s really dangerous as a player. I know him well.”