After struggling in the previous two rounds, Nadal finally shows class in straight-sets win over Croatian Veic
After struggling in the previous two rounds, Nadal finally shows class in straight-sets win over Croatian VeicNumber one seed Rafael Nadal eased into the second week of the French Open as he won his third-round match against Antonio Veic in straight sets.
The Spaniard, chasing his sixth Roland Garros title and a 10th Grand Slam win, saw off the Croatian qualifier 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 in one hour and 41 minutes.
Spain's Rafael Nadal serves during Saturday's French Open third round
match against Croatia's Antonio Veic. Nadal won 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. PIC/AFP Having been below his best in his two matches so far, Nadal was slightly inconsistent during this one too, especially during an error-ridden second set, but he ultimately had enough for the man who shocked Nikolay Davydenko in the last round.
Nadal flew out of the traps and broke serve in the opening game, and then cemented the break to love thanks to some terrific defence.
Despite his first serve statistics reading 17% at one stage, he moved 4-0 clear and then closed out the first set for the loss of a game despite struggling to get as much depth as he normally does on his ground strokes.
The Mallorcan staved off two break points at the start of the second set, but his serve crumbled in the third game, only for him to respond by breaking twice himself as he stepped up the pace.
Veic broke again, though, only for Nadal to take the game on his opponent's serve for a third time in the set to tee-up a 6-3 success.
The underdog's resolve was broken by this point, and Nadal only needed 25 minutes to wrap up a third-set win to love, a crunching forehand winner in the second game the highlight, serving notice of his intentions to continue his dominance of this event.
Djokovic marches onMeanwhile, Novak Djokovic took advantage of an overnight delay to see off Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the third round on Saturday for his 42nd consecutive victory.
When the players came off court just after 9pm last night it was very much game on in the tie of the round after 25th seed Del Potro hit back to win the second set and level the match.
But Djokovic was imperious, breaking the Argentinian's serve four times to set up another potentially difficult clash against Richard Gasquet in round four.
