Rafael Nadal powers into French Open third round

Spain's Rafael Nadal returns to Germany's Yannick Maden during Round Two of the French Open in Paris yesterday. Pic/Getty Images

Rafael Nadal powered into the French Open third round yesterday with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory over German qualifier Yannick Maden to continue his bid for a 12th Roland Garros title.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion was in dominant form for the majority of the match and will play Belgian 27th seed David Goffin for a place in the second week. Nadal's win-loss record at the French Open now reads an astounding 88-2.

'Important victory'
"He [Maden] is a good player. He had already won four matches so was full of confidence," he said. "For me it was an important victory." The Spaniard wasted little time in wrapping up the first two sets on Court Suzanne Lenglen. World No. 114 Maden may have briefly allowed himself to dream of an outrageous upset when he broke twice to level at 3-3 and then 4-4 in the third set, but Nadal put him back in his place with two quick games to seal victory.

German qualifier Yannick Maden

Nadal appears to be hitting form at just the right time, after following three consecutive semi-final defeats on clay with the Italian Open title before arriving in Paris.
He finished the match with 43 winners against just 23 unforced errors.

Federer advances
Meanwhile, Roger Federer reached the third round for the 15th time yesterday with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win over German lucky loser Oscar Otte. Third seed Federer defeated the World No. 144, saving all four break points he faced. Next up for Federer, 37, is a clash with Norway's Casper Ruud who put out Italian 29th seed Matteo Berrettini 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.

Tsitsipas wins tense tie
Earlier, sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas dug deep to reach the third round yesterday with a tense four-set victory over plucky Bolivian Hugo Dellien. The rising Greek star fought back to win 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 on Court Simonne Mathieu.

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