Nadal Cruises In Montreal Opener

Rafael Nadal’s bid to regain top spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings is off on the right foot with the Spaniard easily accounting for #NextGenATP Croatian Borna Coric at the Coupe Rogers on Wednesday. Nadal had fallen in two of the pair’s three prior FedExATP Head2Head meetings but was barely troubled in a 6-1, 6-2 result in Montreal.

The first set was brushed aside in just 29 minutes and with Coric spraying forehands wide at 1-3 down in the second set, he began to mutter his frustrations to himself. It was primarily down to one factor – the relentless play from his opponent. A double fault from Coric handed Nadal the double break to provide breathing space for the top seed.

Nadal would not face a break point in the match until the 13th game when Coric rolled a heavy forehand into the corner to draw the error. It went begging with a wayward return long and the Spaniard survived a lengthy battle on serve to close to within a game of the match.

An ace hold kept the Croatian alive but it was merely delaying the inevitable at this stage of the match. Nadal served it out on his second match point when Coric fired long. It sets a showdown with home hopeful Denis Shapovalov for a place in the quarter-finals. The #NextGenATP lefty took down former No. 4 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Juan Martin del Potro.

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