Rafael Nadal produced another imposing display of claycourt tennis at Roland Garros on Saturday to crush Argentinian Leonardo Mayer 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 and reach the last 16 of the French Open. Seeking to become the first man to win five straight titles in Paris and the first to win nine times at the same Grand Slam, Nadal has lost just 19 games in getting to the last 16.
At the same stage last year en route to his eighth French Open title, Nadal had dropped two sets and lost 48 games. Mayer, ranked 65th in the world, had little to offer as Nadal led from the start and was able to play well within his limits and still race away with the match.
The only blip came in the eighth game of the second set when Mayer broke for the first time in the match to level at 4-4. But minutes later Nadal snuffed out any nascent threat to go two sets clear and the outcome was a formality after that.
The Spaniard’s record at Roland Garros since 2005 is now 62 wins for one loss, that coming against Robin Soderling of Sweden in a 2009 fourth round match. Next up for the Spaniard, who will turn 28 on Tuesday, is little-known Serb Dusan Lajovic, who saw off American hope Jack Sock 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.
Meanwhile, former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic lost in the third round, beaten 6-3, 6-3 by 23rd-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic. Ivanovic, a former No. 1 seeded 11th, won the title at Roland Garros in 2008, and lost in the final the year before. Ivanovic finished with 30 unforced errors, 12 more than Safarova.