Federer & Nadal Easily Win First Tennis Tests At York University
Posted August 8, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Both Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer did what they so often do as two of the premier players in tennis – make it look easy.
Federer made short work of France’s Paul Henri-Mathieu with a 6-3, 6-4 victory at York University’s Rogers Cup Tuesday night. The Swiss wonder, the world’s number one seed, looked a bit rusty after a month’s lay off, but still managed to end the match in only 74 minutes.
Nadal did his arch rival one better, finishing up victorious a 6-3-, 6-2 first round contest with Chile’s Nicolas Massu in only 48 minutes.
Nadal used his powerful groundstrokes to dominate his opponent and wore him down in a match everyone was expecting him to win.
It was Nadal’s first time back on the court since he lost to Federer in the Wimbledon final a month ago.
“The first round is very difficult after one month,” Nadal admits. “The most important thing is win — and I win. So I am very happy with that.”
While Nadal’s win was considered by many to be a sure thing, most also thought that number 6 seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia would easily handle Xavier Mallise. But they were wrong, as the Belgium native quickly took command and left the stunned player on the wrong end of a 6-3, 7-5 loss.
Elsewhere, number 16 seed Tommy Haas of Germany advanced with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Max Mirnyi of Belarus. And Kevin Kim topped fellow American and number 17 seed Robby Ginepri 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
