A health walk. Fifth in the world, Rafael Nadal rose to beat the German Yannick Hanfmann (126th) in three sets (6-2, 6-3, 6-4), who nevertheless played at a very high level, Wednesday in the second round of the Australian Open. “Today, his level was much higher than his ranking indicates,” agreed the 35-year-old Spaniard when discussing his opponent’s game.
On Friday, Nadal will face Russian Karen Khachanov (30th) or Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi (63rd) for a place in the round of 16. On the other hand, it did not pass for another Frenchman, Corentin Moutet, eliminated by the American Korda after a terrible arm wrestling of 4h47 which ended in the super tie break of the 5th set (6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 5-7, 5-7) .
Garcia and Mladenovic catch up in doubles
What else to say? That Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Garcia qualified for the 2nd round of the doubles tournament. Both eliminated in the first round in singles, they beat the Australian pair Mendez-Preston in doubles.
Apart from the Olympics and Fed Cup, they had not lined up together in doubles since their defeat in the quarter-finals in Dubai in 2017. Their last Major was the 2017 Australian Open, where they reached the semis.