A ruthless Rafael Nadal showed no mercy in a clinical first round thumping at the Australian Open Monday as fellow veteran Maria Sharapova issued her own warning with a “double bagel” demolition.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion, who cut short his 2018 season to have surgery on a foot injury, cruised through to round two of the opening major of the year 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 against Australian wildcard James Duckworth.
“Not easy to come back after a lot of months, especially against a player playing super aggressive on every point,” said the 2009 Australian champion, who showed no sign of any injury worries.
“The energy I feel in this place is fantastic,” he added.
The Spanish second seed is bidding to become the first man in the Open era, and only third in history along with Roy Emerson and Rod Laver, to win each Grand Slam on two or more occasions.
Fifth seed Kevin Anderson…
Source: News Agency of Nigeria
