If, as Nadal pointed out, the debut game against Hugo Dellien, served him to prove things, Federico Delbonis raised unexpected difficulties, before falling into three sets: 6-3, 7-6 (4) and 6-1 Argentinian has more cache. Not surprisingly, he has been on the circuit for a few years and has lived such rewarding experiences as certifying the only Davis Cup conquered by his country, in 2016, before Ivo Karlovic, in Zagreb. He reached the 33rd place of the ATP and has two titles in the circuit. Although at 29, with the third round of Australia, four years ago, at the maximum distance traveled in a Grand Slam tournament, he is 76th in the ranks and is already a little back, very low expectations that led him to be Considered one of the great hopes of Argentine tennis, he still has passion, the enthusiasm to become strong from the infrequent concessions of an adversary who is still far from his best version.

Delbonis made it clear from the second game that he was willing to fight: he lifted six break balls and equaled one. In the beginning, when he failed to impose his left-handed serve and then enter with the drive , Nadal suffocated him from side to side until he made the point. The game was changing as the Spaniard showed a lack of auction: 1 of 18 in breaks converted after the first two sets. The Blue player took hold in the second set. I saw that Nadal did not sharpen the shot to create a new gap in the scoreboard. Delbonis was twice to two points to equalize a partial: 5-4 up, 15-30 and deuce the rest, but failed to create his first break option and succumbed in the tiebreaker.

Normally, Nadal, as usual, increases its performance as demand increases. It is likely that Pablo Carreño, 30th, will offer a more convincing performance. At the moment, either due to the accumulated fatigue in the recent ATP Cup, where he played eight games in nine days, or because, simply, he is not fine, he offers doubts. He lacks his usual authority with the drive and punch that characterizes him. It is, however, the number 1 in the world, the champion of the tournament in 2009 and the finalist four times, the most recent last year. All that ends up being noticed. Once he finally managed to break his opponent's serve again and place 3-1 in the third, there was no more confrontation. "It was my first night game and the conditions are different. I lost too many 'break' options. In the end I found a way to win the second set and I could play more relaxed."

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