World No. 2 fires warning to rivals with power-packed show in 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 Rd 2 win over American McDonald; registers 95th victory at Roland Garros
Spain's Rafael Nadal returns to America's Mackenzie McDonald during Round 2 of the French Open in Paris yesterday. pic/Getty Images
Defending champion Rafael Nadal took another step closer to a 13th Roland Garros title on Wednesday with a 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 win over Mackenzie McDonald of the United States. Second seed Nadal claimed his 95th career win at the tournament and next faces either Kei Nishikori of Japan or Italy's Stefano Travaglia for a place in the Last 16.
Nadal, 34, didn't face a break point in Wednesday's tie and hit 31 winners. Nadal looked in ominous form as he stepped up his pursuit of Roger Federer's 20 major titles with a crushing win over 236th-ranked American. "The aim was to play as well as possible. I'm very happy. I have another difficult match next," said Nadal.
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Nadal needs one more major to pull level with long-time rival Federer and owns an astonishing 95-2 record in Paris going back to his triumph on debut in 2005.
Thiem advances
Dominic Thiem
Meanwhile, US Open champion Dominic Thiem swept into the third round with a 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) victory over American qualifier Jack Sock, saving three set points to close out the match. The Austrian third seed will play Norway's Casper Ruud, seeded 28th, or American Tommy Paul for a place in the Last 16. "I'm very happy with my game in the first two rounds. It was not an easy draw at all and I'm very happy not to drop a set," said Thiem, who defeated Marin Cilic in Round One.
Wawrinka in Round 3
Earlier, Stan Wawrinka, the 2015 French Open winner, followed up his demolition of Andy Murray with a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat of Germany's Dominik Koepfer. Sebastian Korda, the son of 1992 Roland Garros runner-up and 1998 Australian Open champion Petr Korda, also progressed after a win over fellow American John Isner.
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