Nadal Surges into Thailand Open Quarters as Verdasco Exits

Published : October 01, 2010 :: 15:10:16 [ 1,436 views ]

World No.1 men's tennis player and top-seed Rafael Nadal dominated his second round opponent Ruben Bemelmans to reach the quarterfinals of the Thailand Open on Thursday night.

Bangkok, the 30^th of September 2010: After a week of rest, recuperation and the inevitable circus that has surrounded him during his stay in Thailand, Spaniard Nadal finally got the down to business on Thursday night, dispatching with his second round opponent Bemelmans 6-1, 6-4.

In his first start since claiming the US Open title and career Grand Slam earlier this month, Nadal confidently put his Belgian opponent to the sword with an adoring crowd chanting his name throughout the match.

This year’s Thailand Open marking his first visit to the Kingdom, having pulled out of last years tournament through injury, Nadal has been treated like royalty during his stay, meeting with Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and appearing in several PR displays.

Accustomed to the attention and media hype surrounding his every move, Nadal looked unfazed in his second round match, losing only eight service points in a dominant display of his talents.

Nadal is now set to meet either Belgian Olivier Rochus or Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals.

In other matches, tournament second seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain succumbed to a brilliant performance from Germany’s Benjamin Becker, who took the match 6-4, 6-4.

Verdasco, who accepted a wild card to play in Thailand, was notable sluggish in the match before rallying back with some trademark aggressive tennis, but it was too little too late for the Spaniard who had already done enough damage to his own chances with a host of unforced errors.

Earlier, seventh-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia — last year’s finalist — was ousted by Jarkko Nieminen of Finland 7-6 (4), 6-2.