Paris (AFP)
Rafael Nadal, who is aiming for an unthinkable 13th title at Roland Garros, easily reached the round of 16 leaving only five games to the Italian Stefano Travaglia, 74th in the world, beaten 6-1, 6-4, 6-0 in 1:35 Friday.
The world No.2 thus imitated his rival No.1 Novak Djokovic, who qualified Thursday in 1:23 with only five games abandoned to the Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis.
In the previous round, Nadal had left even less (four games) to the American Mackenzie McDonald, far from the nine games gleaned by the Belarusian Egor Gerasimov in the first round.
In the round of 16, Nadal will face the surprise Sebastian Korda, 213th in the world and from qualifying.
The American, son of Petr Korda finalist in Paris in 1992, eliminated another qualifier, the Spaniard Pedro Martinez (105th), in three sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-1.
Hanging on to the second set, which lasted as long as the other two rounds combined (47 minutes), Nadal concluded with authority in just over an hour and a half.
"I played my best match this year at Roland Garros (compared to the two rounds before, Editor's note), I am very happy with this victory, I hope to continue like that", reacted the Mallorcan, on the court , at the microphone of Cédric Pioline.
Asked about the ease with which he had crossed the first laps, while he still lacks rhythm after having overlooked the mini-tour of America, Nadal admitted finding himself in "a very strange position".
"But I take things on the bright side: I did a lot of good things today, I went up to serve more often, my serve is improving," said the Spaniard.
"I hope to continue to improve."
© 2020 AFP