Nadal battles into US Open second round
September 01, 2010 11:04:28 UK
Top seed Rafael Nadal was pushed hard by world number 93 Teymuraz Gabashvili before booking his place in the second round at Flushing Meadows.
The Spaniard sealed a straight sets win at Arthur Ashe Stadium, but it took until the seventh game of the third set for him to break Gabashvili's serve.
I know if I want to have chances to win here, this year or any year, I need to serve really well.
Rafael Nadal
The world number one, who needs to win the US Open to complete a career Grand Slam, eventually broke the giant Russian to seal a 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 victory in two hours and 57 minutes.
Rafael Nadal is now 2.00 to win the US Open 2010, with Roger Federer fancied at 2.10 and Andy Murray 10001.00.
"It was a very tough match tonight," conceded Nadal, who had dropped just 11 games in his previous two wins against Gabashvilli.
"My serve tonight worked well and hopefully I can continue like this. It's not my best shot but I always try hard to keep improving.
"I know if I want to have chances to win here, this year or any year, I need to serve really well and that's one thing I am focusing on."
Earlier in the day, Novak Djokovic was forced to come back from the brink of defeat to also advance to the next round.
Djokovic trailed two sets to one and saved a break point in the fourth set to avoid going a double-break down before rallying to beat Serbian Davis Cup team-mate Viktor Troicki 6-3 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-3 in three hours 40 minutes.
Djokovic has often struggled in hot conditions, and appeared to be wavering as the temperature in New York approached 100 degrees, but dug deep to improve his career five-set record to 11-5.
Andy Murray is in first round action today. Asked about finally getting some shade on the Arthur Ashe Stadium in the fifth set, Djokovic said: "Somebody from the stands kept on saying 'Hold on and try to hang in there' and that's exactly what I did. I would like to thank my box for staying all the time with me and supporting me all the way through and the fans for making the match so exciting.
"I have to give Viktor credit, he played really well and served incredibly well. If I lost it would have been so deserved on his side. Only a couple of points turned the match around."
The men's first round concludes today and the highlights include Andy Murray (1.015) v Lukas Lacko (13.00), Gilles Simon (1.20) v Donald Young (4.33) and Michael Llodra (6.00) v Tomas Berdych (1.11).
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