MADRID (AP)—Second-seeded Rafael Nadal advanced to the third round of the Madrid Masters with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Ukrainian qualifier Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. on Wednesday.
Nadal broke early to take control of the first set, although Dolgopolov pressured the Spaniard’s serve in the second with some blistering groundstrokes.
A superb forehand down the line by Nadal gave him a breakpoint which he converted to go 4-3 up in the second. Dolgopolov saved a match point serving at 5-3 down but Nadal still broke to close out the match.
Nadal was in the Madrid Masters on the back of tournament wins in Monte Carlo and Rome. The 2005 champion and 2009 finalist is hoping to extend the record for ATP World Tour 1000 titles of 17 he shares with Andre Agassi.
At 21, the 62-ranked Dolgopolov is the youngest player in the ATP top 100.
“He’s very unusual and very difficult to play against. He’s very fast with his shots and he has a fast serve too,” said Nadal.
“It was an important victory for me because for a moment the match wasn’t under control.”
Earlier, fifth-seeded Andy Roddick withdrew from the tournament before his second-round match against Feliciano Lopez due to illness. Lopez instead played and beat Spanish countryman Oscar Hernandez, who failed to qualify.
“In the end it’s positive not having to play against Roddick, although I was looking forward to playing him—it would have been a fun match. But now I just have to be happy to be in the next round,” said Lopez. In the third round the Spaniard plays Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, who beat 10th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.
Spain’s Nicolas Almagro upset fourth-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-4, 7-5 to set up a meeting with Juan Monaco of Argentina.
Other winners were John Isner of the United States, who plays Nadal in the next round, and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.
In the women’s draw, fourth-seeded Venus Williams beat Francesca Schiavone of Italy 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 to move into the fourth round.
In the second round, seventh-seeded Jelena Jankovic beat fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
“It wasn’t my best tennis today,” said Jankovic. “I can’t expect myself to play so great, it’s my first match here in Madrid and it’s high altitude and all that but I got through and that is the most important thing. I get to play tomorrow.”
>>> **Click here to watch Madrid matches live on TennisTV.com.**