Current tournament:Roland Garros (Men's Singles)
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Nadal 6-1 6-3 6-2 Kuznetsov. Game, set and match! A very impressive win for Nadal is wrapped up at the first attempt with an inside out forehand approach shot winner. Nadal moves a step closer to that mouth-watering potential quarter-final against Novak Djokovic. First up for the defending champion, however, will be American Jack Sock.
Nadal 6-1 6-3 5-2 Kuznetsov. Break. Nadal will serve for the match after the change of ends. He's breas for the second time in this third set with a dipping forehand return across court that even the fast-approaching Kuznetsov cannot get to in time to play the volley off.
Nadal 6-1 6-3 4-2 Kuznetsov. A really telling statistic from today's match shows just how much Nadal is troubling Kuznetsov and the other way round - Nadal has forced 32 errors from the Russian but Kuznetsov has only forced 13 errors from his opponent. Nadal holds to continue his inexorable march towards the fourth round.
Nadal 6-1 6-3 3-2 Kuznetsov. The Russian produces his first ace of the match before also unleashing a booming forehand winner down the line on his way to a love service and to keep the deficit down to just the one break in this third set.
Nadal 6-1 6-3 3-1 Kuznetsov. A little bit for luck for Kuznetsov denies Nadal on his first game point as the Russian's backhand down the line catches the top of the net and rolls over. But Nadal earns himself a second chance with an angled backhand winner across court before going back to the exact same spot with an inside out cross court forehand winner.
Nadal 6-1 6-3 2-1 Kuznetsov. Break. Nadal moves well out in the tramlines before flicking a forehand down the line, curling the ball inside the line at the last possible second for the winner. It's enough to rattle Kuznetsov again as Nadal breaks to take the early lead in this set with back-to-back forehand errors from the Russian.
Nadal 6-1 6-3 1-1 Kunzetsov. Nadal responds to Kuznetsov's love service game with a love hold of his own, belting a forehand winner down the line with an extra lick of pace just for good measure. On serve in this third set.
Nadal 6-1 6-3 0-1 Kuznetsov. The perfect start to the third set from Kuznetsov as he holds to love to get his side of the scoreboard ticking over. He's testing Nadal now and the Spaniard will need to pick up his level a little.
Nadal 6-1 6-3 Kuznetsov. Set! A forehand winner down the centre of the court after pushing Nadal wide is the perfect start to the game for the Russian but he cannot halt Nadal's progress any further and the Spaniard eases through the rest of the game to wrap up the second set. If Kuznetsov can maintain that level of play into the third set, however, things could get very interesting.
Nadal 6-1 5-3 Kuznetsov. The Russian is playing some of his best tennis of the match now as he holds by forcing his way up to the net and firing an approach shot volley deep into the Nadal forehand. Nadal, for his part, can only send his running forehand well wide down the tramline and Kuznetsov has another game to his name. Nadal will have a second chance to serve out the set next.
Nadal 6-1 5-2 Kuznetsov. Break! Nadal is peppering the baseline with his forehand until one shot, a run around backhand by the Spaniard, catches the top of the tape and goes long to hand Kuznetsov an unexpected brea back point. To be fair to the Russian, though, he takes full advantage, drawing Nadal up into the net and then putting up a forehand lob winner. Kuznetsov has denied Nadal the second set at the first time of asking and has one of the breaks back.
Nadal 6-1 5-1 Kuznetsov. Break. Nadal just dances away from the cross court forehand from Kuznetsov so that he can take it on his forehand side. And the move pays off as the Spaniard fires an inside out forehand winner across court to snatch yet another break of the Kuznetsov serve and leave himself with the chance to serve out the second set.
Nadal 6-1 4-1 Kuznetsov. Another game goes the way of Nadal, despite the Spaniard opening with a double fault. This is just relentless now from the defending champion as Kuznetsov struggles to get a point on the board.
Nadal 6-1 3-1 Kuznetsov. Another very tough game for Kuznetsov as Nadal pushes him to deuce but this time he does come through it, a forehand winner down the line followed by a backhand volley winner and the Russian is on the scoreboard - he has doubled his output in this match.
Nadal 6-1 3-0 Kuznetsov. Another game goes the way of Nadal as he sends a serve out wide to Kuznetsov's backhand, the Russian going back across court with his reply only to put the ball into the top of the net. This is brutal for the 24-year-old.
Nadal 6-1 2-0 Kuznetsov. Break. Another very competant game from Nadal as he breaks with a cross court backhand winner after he had stepped up inside the court. The defending champion is looking very strong today and has barely been tested.
Nadal 6-1 1-0 Kuznetsov. Nadal's backhand passing shot across court hangs in the air just waiting for Kuznetsov to find the forehand volley but Nadal ball has such a huge amount of spin on it that the Russian can't put his reply back over the net despite getting his racquet to it. Nadal goes on to hold from there.
Nadal 6-1 Kuznetsov. Set! Nadal finishes the set with a flourish. Kuznetsov goes wide with an inside out forehand across court after an injection of pace from Nadal. That brings up two set points but the Spaniard only needs the one as he steps out wide to make his return and fires an inside out forehand passing shot return across court for the winner. First set to Nadal in an emphatic 37 minutes.
Nadal 5-1 Kuznetsov. Nadal holds without trouble this time around as he spins a big serve out wide before sending a forehand winner down the line to seal the hold. Kuznetsov will have to serve to keep this first set alive after the change of ends.
Nadal 4-1 Kuznetsov. Break. Kuznetsov quickly finds himself two more break points down after Nadal gets incredibly lucky with a net cord and seeing the ball roll just over. The Russian saves the first two break points but Nadal fashions himself a third chance and this time the defending champion does re-establish his double break lead with a drop shot that Kuznetsov cannot return in play.
Nadal 3-1 Kuznetsov. Break! A bit of a shocker from Nadal as he gifts Kuznetsov three break back points with a wayward forehand. The Spanaird saves the first with a much better forehand, this one a winner, off the shorter return from Kuznetsov. But Nadal goes wide off the forehand side on the second of the break points and the Russian has one of the breaks back.
Nadal 2-0 Kuznetsov. Nadal is also still settling into this match as he fails to find the court with his forehand. But his tenacity is clearly already in play as he works his way around the baseline, eventually drawing the error from Kuznetsov, before going on to hold with an ace down the centre of the court.
Nadal 1-0 Kuznetsov. Break! Not the best of starts for Kuznetsov as he finds himself down a break already. The Russian saves a first break point with a backhand winner but he hasn't really found his range yet and consecutive errors from Kuznetsov, one off the backhand and one off the forehand wing, hands Nadal the early break.
Kuznetsov will get the clash underway by serving first ...
Oddly enough, Nadal and Kuznetsov have never played each other before so expect the early stages of this clash to see the two players testing each other out a little.
Coming up next on the Suzanne Lenglen court will be defending champion Rafael Nadal against Russian Andrey Kuznetsov.
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