'Insane': Tennis world loses it over 'ridiculous' Rafa Nadal act
Rafael Nadal has kicked off his Australian Open campaign in style after steamrolling his way through to the second round in straight sets.
Pounding winners from all angles of the court, Nadal looked lethal in a 6-1 6-4 6-2 demolition of American Marcos Giron on Monday.
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Nadal wasted little time getting into gear as he dismantled the American in the opening set.
The 35-year-old converted his first break point in the fourth game, with a moment of magic that left commentators and viewers in awe.
Giron looked to have the sixth seed's measure when he met a defensive backhand from Nadal with a sharp forehand volley at the net.
However, Nadal showed insane court coverage to chase down the shot and conjure an extraordinary flicked backhand winner from a tight angle.
Wow! What a break point that was from Nadal. Absolutely stunning reach
1-3*#AusOpen— Ochi (@soo_ochieng) January 17, 2022
Thats incredible from Nadal
— mcmungawar (3,3) (🌵,🌵) (@mcmungawar) January 17, 2022
Ridiculous stuff from Rafa 🤯#AusOpen - Live on Channel 9 and 9Now pic.twitter.com/Zcu2nemuMP
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) January 17, 2022
Some insane shots from my love Nadal.
— Geea 🦋🇨🇦🇲🇩🍒🍎🍋 (@Armonia_Geea) January 17, 2022
Unbelievable from #Nadal! Loving it! #AusOpen #ATP
— Leslie DeGonia (@LeslieDeGonia) January 17, 2022
What a get by Rafa. I've lived in dread all day that Giron wasn't gonna escape the bakery in any set today, and was starting to relax when he had 2game point. But nooooo. Rafa with a ridiculous trackdown track star pass to break for *3-1.
— Wilfy (@whitelinefervor) January 17, 2022
4 games in and Rafa has one ridiculous shot already
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) January 17, 2022
The Spaniard dropped just the one game as he cruised through the opening stanza in less than 25 minutes.
The second set was a much closer affair as the 20-time grand slam champion's American opponent began to find his rhythm.
Rafa Nadal begins Aus Open with a bang
Giron - the 28-year-old late bloomer to tennis who had his best-ever year in 2021 - pushed Nadal but couldn't find a way to overturn the World No.7's break in the opening game of the set.
The third set followed a similar pattern as the Spaniard consolidated his early break to open up another handy lead in the third.
Two more breaks for the Spaniard meant the writing was on the wall for Giron as Nadal clinched the third set 6-2 to book his place in the second round.
The dramatic deportation of World No.1 and nine-times champion Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer's injury-enforced absence has left Nadal as the only player with the chance to snare a record 21st men's grand slam singles crown this month.
And the great Spaniard needed only one hour and 48 minutes to confirm he's over the injuries that dogged his 2021 season, not to mention his bout of Covid-19 only last month.
As well as clubbing 34 clean winners, Nadal broke Giron five times and offered up only one break point on his own serve all match.
A five-times finalist in Melbourne and champion in 2009, the former World No.1 will play either resurgent home hope Thanasi Kokkinakis or German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann in the second round on Wednesday.
with AAP
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