Respectful Nadal packs off Hewitt
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, March 24, 2014
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Rafael Nadal hits a forehand return against Lleyton Hewitt at the Miami Masters on Saturday. Nadal won 6-1, 6-3. |
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal hammered former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-3 on Saturday to reach the third round of the Miami Masters hardcourt tournament.
The top-seeded Spaniard and his veteran Australian opponent took to the court two and a half hours late due to long matches that preceded them.
But Nadal, who received a first-round bye, ripped through the opening set in 27 minutes and eventually dispatched double grand slam winner Hewitt in 66 minutes.
"It's great for me to be back after not playing since 2012. I really enjoy it here," Nadal said. "There was no better way to start my return than with a win like this."
World No. 1 Serena Williams and Russian star Maria Sharapova each battled through three sets on Saturday to advance into the fourth round on the women's side.
Nadal next faces Denis Istomin, who beat Dmitry Tursunov 6-7 (8/10), 6-0, 6-3.
Nadal took his sixth win in a row over Hewitt, improving to 7-4 in their rivalry overall.
"I have the greatest respect for Lleyton," Nadal said. "He's a great example to me and the other players the way he has come back from injuries.
"He always keeps fighting."
Hewitt, who collected his 600th career ATP win on Thursday, said Nadal was simply too much for him to overcome.
"He hit the ball really clean right from the start," he said. "I hung in there and tried everything I could but he was just too good. Even when I pushed him, he got back into the point."
Reigning Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka downed Spain's Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the men's third round.
Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych began with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 win over Frenchman Stephane Robert while 10th seed John Isner defeated Donald Young 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 6-4.
Defending champion Serena Williams and last year's runner-up Sharapova struggled mightily to survive, with five-time finalist Sharapova requiring nine match point to book her win. Sharapova beat Czech Lucie Safarova 6-4, 6-7 (7/5), 6-2 in a battle which took five minutes short of three hours to complete. Sharapova let out a scream of relief when she finally went through as Safarova's shot hit the net.
Williams waited out a 45-minute rain third-set interruption before dispatching France's Caroline Garcia 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
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