Nadal breezes through Qatar opener

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:11

Nadal raced through the first set without dropping a game, coming up with some tricks of his own against the man nicknamed ‘The Magician’.

The top seed’s speed and power was simply too much for 36-year-old Santoro, who finally got on the board in the ninth game. That was the only bright spot for the world number 51, however, Nadal wrapping up a 6-0 6-1 victory in less than 50 minutes.

Second seed Roger Federer was also impressive in a 6-2 6-2 triumph over Italy’s Potito Starace.

The Swiss, who is looking to recapture his best form after an inconsistent 2008, was simply far too good for Starace, breaking him four times. Federer next faces another Italian in Andreas Seppi.

Seventh seed Dmitry Tursunov was an early casualty, the Russian taking the first set against Austrian qualifier Alexander Peya before slumping to a 2-6 6-3 6-4 defeat.

It was a similar story for Tursunov’s countryman Igor Andreev, seeded sixth, as he lost 4-6 6-3 6-4 to another Russian, Mikhail Youzhny, but eighth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber is through after a 6-4 6-3 win over Marco Chiudinelli.

Arnaud Clement will face Andy Roddick in the second round following a 6-1 6-2 victory over Diego Junqueira while Kristof Vliegen beat Oscar Hernandez 6-1 6-7 (4/7) 7-6 (7/5).

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