Britain’s Dan Evans was the latest victim of Rafa Nadal as the Spaniard’s stretched his win streak to 17 straight, and his 400th Masters 1000 win.
Evans broke early and led 3-1 and 4-2 in the first set but Nadal broke the Briton’s serve twice to take the opening set 7-5.
Nadal who has not lost in 2022 broke early in set two and sealed a 7-5 6-3 win.
World number four Nadal, who staged an epic fightback to beat American Sebastian Korda in the previous round, is the one to beat at the moment – as Evans acknowledged.
“It’s tough to explain the feeling you get against him,” said Evans. “He played very well, I thought, he was very aggressive and he didn’t really give me much chance to come forward.
“I was happy with the way I played. It’s a terrible match-up for me – it would be nice to have a double handed backhand in this situation.”
Nadal will play American Reilly Opelka in the next round.
Main photo:- Rafa Nadal winning his 400th ATP Masters match – ©ATPTour.com/Pete Staples
Doping sanction victim Simona Halep has gone online to protest her own treatment by anti-doping…
Rafael Nadal lined up for what was to be the final match of his career…
Jannik Sinner took charge in front of his home crowd on Sunday, crushing ATP Finals…
Daniil Medvedev went into meltdown mode on Sunday during a highly charged 6-4, 6-3 loss, with opponent…
Jannik Sinner could well be missing from the opening European clay event of next season…
Rafael Nadal will bring down the curtain on his career next month as he plays his…