Nadal starts the best season of his career

 Nadal starts the best season of his career

Rafael Nadal extended his winning streak from the beginning of the year to 12 after beating Stefan Kozlov 6-0, 6-3 in the second round of the Acapulco Open on the morning of February 24 (Hanoi time).

In his first tournament since winning the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal continued his high form to increase his start of the 2022 season to 12-0, thereby setting a new record for himself. Before that, Nadal started 2011 with 11 wins and then lost to Stan Wawrinka in the Australian Open final.

Nadal used his powerful forehand to dominate the first set. He finished quickly with a score of 6-0 after 31 minutes. In the second set, Nadal soon broke the game and led 4-1, but he let Stefan Kozlov claim the break in the 7th game when he had a little problem serving.

However, the 4th seed was able to get ahead at the decisive moment. He had another break before ending the game with a direct-scoring serve.

Nadal loves him 1

Nadal is aiming for his fourth title at Acapulco. Photo: Reuters.

Nadal is trying to finish matches at Acapulco quickly when he has to compete in hot and humid weather. The Spaniard had 2 quick victories to reach the quarterfinals.

"It's always important to win as quickly as possible. But the most important thing is to win. Today, I won in two sets, which is great news. I'll try to get ready for the match. against a difficult opponent tomorrow," said Nadal after the match.

After overcoming Denis Kudla and Kozlov in the first two rounds, Nadal will face another American player, Tommy Paul, in the quarterfinals. This player had a 7-6 (6), 2-6, 7-5 victory over Dusan Lajovic.

After winning the Melbourne Summer Set and Australian Open, Nadal is aiming for his third title of the season and 91st of his career. He is likely to face number one seed Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals.

In the previous match, the Russian tennis player defeated Pablo Andujar with a score of 6-1, 6-2. He just faced a break-point and saved successfully. Medvedev launched 7 aces, the rate of one-ball scoring reached 88%. He closed the match after 63 minutes.

Medvedev is three wins away from the world number one. In the quarterfinals, he will face Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan after he beat Taylor Fritz 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.