Last year’s runner-up Rafael Nadal faces up against American Tim Smyczek for a place in the third round of the 2015 Australian Open. Join The Roar for live scores from around 7:00pm (AEDT).
Nadal made light work of former world number eight, Mikhail Youzhny, in the first round, moving past in three sets, dropping just seven games along the way.
He’ll be hoping to be able to muster a repeat of that performance today.
His motivation will be to reduce the impact of long matches on his body in the early rounds, as he manages a return to form following a string of injuries and illness that plagued him in the second half of 2014 and throughout the offseason.
If he can manage to avoid any taxing matches in the opening week, he’ll be much better placed for a tilt at another appearance on the final night.
His opponent today arrived in the second round off the back of a three set win against twenty year old Australian Luke Saville.
Smyczek last featured in the second round at Melbourne Park in 2013, his best result at an Australian Open. In that Open, he faced off against the then world number four David Ferrer, going down in four sets.
If he can sneak an early set from the world number three today, he might be able to get the crowd to (at least momentarily) entertain the idea of an upset. But it will take more than some early momentum to convince the bookies of any result other than a Nadal win this evening, and we tend to agree.
Prediction: Nadal in three sets.
Join The Roar for live scores as third seed Rafael Nadal hunts for passage into the third round.
If you are following the action live, be sure to share you thoughts on the match in the comments below.
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