Nadal reaches French Open's 3rd round

Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal on Wednesday qualified for the third round of the 2019 French Open after defeating qualifier Yannick Maden of Germany 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

In two hours and nine minutes, world No. 2 Nadal maintained his steady pace and overcame Maden, who was making his French Open debut at 29 years, in straight sets, Efe news reported.

"Done in a wink. Rafael Nadal sees off his second German qualifier in as many matches with a routine 6-1 6-2 6-4 win over Yannick Maden," the tournament posted to its official Twitter account.

This is Nadal's eighth time to beat a qualifier in straight sets in as many matches in the French capital, continuing with his quest for a record-extending 12th Roland Garros title.

By winning this match, the French Open title defender has reached his 88th overall career triumph at the Grand Slam event.

Nadal admitted that he lost control of the match in the final set, allowing world No. 114 Maden to set the pace by breaking the Spaniard's serve twice.

He said that the German player enjoyed more confidence and has good dynamics, having won four Roland Garros matches this year: three in the qualifying rounds and one against Kimmer Coppejans of Belgium in the first round.

Nadal also mentioned that he felt happy to return to win at the Suzanne-Lenglen court.

He underscored that the center court is the most important court of his career, however, the fans are closer and it becomes more joyful at the Suzanne-Lenglen court, which comes second in importance.

Throughout his successful career in Paris, Nadal has gone through tough starts and other less complicated, such as the match he played on Monday against qualifier Yannick Hanfmann of Germany in the first round.

Next up in the third round, Nadal is set to square off against world No. 29 David Goffin of Belgium, who defeated Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 after an hour and 50 minutes.

Goffin has never defeated Nadal on clay, but he prevailed over the Spanish star once on a hard court at the 2017 ATP Finals in London.

--IANS

rkm/vd