‘I wasn’t competing well’: Nadal battles back in Barcelona

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BARCELONA, April 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Rafael Nadal survived an early
scare at the Barcelona Open on Wednesday by coming from a set down to beat
Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer and seal his place in the last 16.

Nadal, who is attempting to win the tournament for a record 12th time, was
made to work hard for his 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-2 victory as the world number two
avoided a surprise defeat ahead of the start of the French Open next month.

Fellow Spaniard David Ferrer now awaits Nadal in the next round, with a
place in the quarter-finals at stake. Nadal has won all of his last four
meetings with Ferrer.

“It was a tough start, I didn’t have the feeling this afternoon. I just
found a way to keep going and win,” admitted Nadal.

“He competed well and I was probably not competing that well. My attitude
was solid but I had to work hard to stay in the tournament.”

Nadal, who has 25-6 winning record against Ferrer, added: “Playing David
is never easy, especially since he’s such a friend. I’m expecting a tough
match.”

Mayer, ranked 63rd in the world, had never beaten a top-five opponent in
15 attempts but was more than a match for a nervous-looking Nadal in the
opening set.

Nadal will be gunning for title number 12 at Roland Garros too and this
recovery will have given him much relief, after the 17-time major champion
was a shock semi-final loser to Fabio Fognini at the Monte Carlo Masters last
week.

A poor game allowed Nadal to break to love at 4-3 in the first set but
Mayer hit back for 5-5 and held on for a tie-break.

Nadal looked in control after recovering from 3-1 and 4-2 down to set up
two set points but he squandered both before Mayer took his chance at the
first time of asking, a booming forehand enough to clinch the set.

An early break at the start of the second sent Nadal on his way and he
served out at 5-4 to take the match to a decider.

Mayer seemed to have lost belief as he dumped a simple backhand volley
into the net, allowing his opponent to seize a crucial break at 2-2.

From there, the momentum was set as Nadal whipped a forehand down the line
for 5-2 and then served out to complete a hard-fought win.