Nadal made to toil at Stuttgart Open
STUTTGART, Germany (AFP) — Rafael Nadal began the difficult annual transition from clay to grass yesterday, taking more than two-and-a-half hours to advance to the quarter-finals of the Stuttgart Open.
The top seed, whose ranking has fallen to 10th after a terrible clay season in which he failed to win a European title, overcame Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (4/7), 6-2 for his 30th victory of the season.
Nadal managed to win the opening set as he began the pre-Wimbledon season at the venue where he claimed 2005 and 2007 titles on clay.
Nadal will next face fifth seed Bernard Tomic after the Australian overpowered Tommy Haas 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 to end the veteran’s comeback after a year on the sidelines following his fourth shoulder surgery.
Second seed Marin Cilic, the US Open champion, made a successful start on grass, defeating German lucky loser Matthias Bachinger 7-6 (7/2), 6-3.
Nadal was pleased to escape an upset at the hands of Baghdatis just over a week after crashing out of the French Open as his 39-match win streak at the venue was ended by Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.
Nadal won the opening set after more than an hour and saved two Baghdatis set points in the 10th game of the second before the 63rd-ranked challenger levelled at a set each by winning a tiebreaker.
Nadal gathered his powers in the third set, breaking for 3-1 to eventually emerge the winner.
Tomic had to battle to close out victory, with former world number two Haas saving three match points in the penultimate game on the new grass of the Weissenhof club, which was changed from clay in time for this edition.