Rafael Nadal tops Egor Gerasimov in impressive style
PARIS: World no. 2 and the 12-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal is off to a winning start in Paris. Rafa took down Egor Gerasimov 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 after a rock-solid performance, delivering impressive numbers on serve and creating enough damage on the return to seal the deal in straight sets.
It was Nadal's 94th Roland Garros victory from 96 matches, extending his dominance at clay Major and preparing the second-round meeting with Mackenzie McDonald. Hitting 32 winners and 20 unforced errors, Rafa lost only 17 points behind the initial shot, getting broken once and converting all five break chances to race into the next round.
Hitting eight winners and five unforced errors, Nadal had the upper hand in the opening set, dropping five points behind the initial shot and challenging the Belarusian to repeat those and stay in contention. Gerasimov produced four comfortable holds, suffering one break to hand the set to the defending champion. Agencies