Rafael Nadal survives Leonardo Mayer scare in Barcelona opener

Spain's Rafael Nadal returns to Argentina's Leonardo Mayer yesterday. Pic/ Getty Images

Rafael Nadal survived an early scare at the Barcelona Open on Wednesday by coming from a set down to beat Argentina's Leonardo Mayer and seal his place in the last 16. Nadal, who is attempting to win the tournament for a record 12th time, was made to work hard for his 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-2 victory as the world number two avoided a surprise defeat ahead of the start of the French Open next month.

Fellow Spaniard David Ferrer now awaits Nadal in the next round, with a place in the quarter-finals at stake. Nadal has won all of his last four meetings with Ferrer. "It was a tough start, I didn't have the feeling this afternoon. I just found a way to keep going and win," admitted Nadal. "He competed well and I was probably not competing that well. My attitude was solid but I had to work hard to stay in the tournament."

Nadal, who has 25-6 winning record against Ferrer, added: "Playing David is never easy, especially since he's such a friend. I'm expecting a tough match." Mayer, ranked 63rd in the world, had never beaten a top-five opponent in 15 attempts but was more than a match for a nervous-looking Nadal in the opening set. Nadal will be gunning for title number 12 at Roland Garros too and this recovery will have given him much relief, after the 17-time major champion was a shock semi-final loser to Fabio Fognini at the Monte Carlo Masters last week.

A poor game allowed Nadal to break to love at 4-3 in the first set but Mayer hit back for 5-5 and held on for a tie-break. Nadal looked in control after recovering from 3-1 and 4-2 down to set up two set points but he squandered both before Mayer took his chance at the first time of asking, a booming forehand enough to clinch the set. An early break at the start of the second sent Nadal on his way and he served out at 5-4 to take the match to a decider.

Mayer seemed to have lost belief as he dumped a simple backhand volley into the net, allowing his opponent to seize a crucial break at 2-2. From there, the momentum was set as Nadal whipped a forehand down the line for 5-2 and then served out to complete a hard-fought win.

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