French Open: Rafael Nadal gains momentum

Published on 01/06/2012 00:00

RAFAEL Nadal was in ominously good form as he made it only nine games dropped in two matches with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 victory over Denis Istomin in the third round of the French Open.

The defending champion, who is going for a record seventh title at Roland Garros, was very happy with his display but is looking to improve his serve for his next match against Argentinian qualifier Eduardo Schwank, who put out 32nd seed Florian Mayer yesterday.

Nadal said: “I feel good. I think I played a really solid match. The first set I think was a good level. The second one was good at the end, but in the middle of the set I had some problems with my serve, two break points in two games in a row.

“And the third set was great. I’m very happy about the way that I played the third. I can improve things. The serve is the first one. I think I improved the level of my serve during the match, but I started the match serving bad.”

Nadal spoke after his first-round win against Simone Bolelli about his positive attitude this year in comparison to 12 months ago, when he frequently cut something of a tortured figure despite going on to win the title.

The second seed is always keen to get back home to Majorca as often as possible, but he revealed his state of mind is partly to do with being less homesick.

He said: “This year I’m having fun, a lot of fun. I’m happy. I’m not suffering from the fact that I’m far from home. Whereas last year I was suffering from this.

“It was too much travelling for me. Even though last year I was quite successful. I had this mental fear last year. But things change.”