Despite not being at his best for much of the match, Rafael Nadal got the job done against Denis Istomin on Monday to get his 2016 US Open campaign underway with a straight sets victory. At times, the Spaniard struggled to keep the ball in play and found himself under pressure from his Uzbekistani opponent. But the two-time US Open champion did what he does best, hanging tough and wearing his opponent down before blasting him off the court late.
Nadal races through opener
After some strong hitting through the first two and a half games, Istomin cooled off quickly and dramatically on his own serve in the third game, hitting back-to-back unforced errors to send a game to deuce. A double fault several feet wide gave Nadal a break point, which he was gifted when the world number 107 committed another unforced error. In the following game, a shanked forehand from Nadal gave his opponent a chance to break back, but the Spaniard saved the break point.
Much like the previous game, Istomin was unable to maintain a lead on his own serve, falling behind break point at 40-AD. This time, he saved it, but would quickly surrender another and this time drove a forehand wide to give the fourth seed a double-break lead. After the first love hold of the match for either player gave Nadal a 5-1 lead, he kept the pressure on as the Uzbekistani served to stay in the set. A double fault gave the Spaniard a set point, which he converted to seal the opening set by winning six straight games in only 33 minutes.
Istomin comeback falls short
Nadal picked up right where he left off in the second set, holding to start before breaking Istomin for the fourth time in a row to grab the early lead in the second. He consolidated the break by winning his ninth game in a row. The Uzbekistani would finally stop the bleeding in the fourth game, winning his first game since the first game of the match with a hold to love. In the sixth game, Nadal had a chance to grab a second break, but missed his passing shot down the line.
A game later, it was the Spaniard’s turn to struggle to keep the ball in play, with a series of errors putting him down double break point. After missing the first, Istomin would hit a combination of good volleys to reclaim the break. A routine hold would allow the Uzbekistani to level the set at 4-4. Istomin seemed to be the player in the ascendancy as he controlled the rallies and began to draw errors from his Spanish opponent. But serving to stay in the set at 4-5, he would let his level slip once again. He would fall behind 0-40 and, after saving the first two set points, missed a backhand to gift the set to his opponent.
Late charge sends Nadal through
Despite having dropped the second set, Istomin did not seem phased to start the third as he immediately began putting pressure on the Nadal serve. In the third game, he would push Nadal to deuce and twice stood at break point. However, he was unable to convert and the Spaniard escaped with the hold.
Midway through the set, after staying with Nadal up to that point, Istomin returned to his first set form, hitting back to back unforced errors and a double fault from 15-0 up to give the Spaniard double break point. He only needed one, as he would rip a forehand winner to grab a 4-2 lead. Nadal would waste no time in consolidating the break for 5-2 lead. The two-time US Open champion seemed to have re-found his feet as he squeezed the life out of Istomin in the final game, drawing four errors and converting his second match point to break his way into the second round of the US Open.
By the numbers
While Nadal was not striking the ball as well as he can for much of the match, committing 27 unforced errors while hitting 21 winners, Istomin struggled even more, giving up 39 unforced errors, 7 double faults and only managing 19 winners, less than half the number of his errors. Nadal also dominated his opponents second serve, punishing Istomin for missing his first serve by winning 66 percent of his second serve return points. While the Spaniard only managed 50 percent of his own second serve points, he countered them out with 82 percent of his first serve points won.
The Spaniard will take a 7-1 head-to-head advantage into his second round match against Andreas Seppi. Seppi has not won a set against Nadal since his upset win in 2008.