Tennis – Australian Open – Second Round – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia – January 23, 2020. Spain’s Rafael Nadal celebrates winning the match against Argentina’s Federico Delbonis. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Top seed Rafa Nadal continued his relentless progress through the Australian Open draw on Thursday, muscling his way into the third round with a commanding 6-3 7-6(4) 6-1 victory over Argentine Federico Delbonis.
The Spaniard, hunting for a second Australian Open title 11 years after his first, has now lost only three sets in his last nine matches at Melbourne Park, all in his defeat to Novak Djokovic in last year’s final.
World number 76 Delbonis never looked like adding to that tally in the two and a half hour contest on Rod Laver Arena, particularly as he was unable to muster up as much as a single break point against the 19-times Grand Slam champion.
The world number one was a little profligate with his break points – converting only three of 20 – but still comfortably moved through to a meeting with compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta.
Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Pritha Sarkar