Nadal beats Almagro, advances to third round of French Open

Spain’s Rafael Nadal continued on Thursday to defend his French Open title after eliminating his compatriot Nicolas Almagro with a 64, 63, 61 win in two hours and 21 minutes.

Nadal, looking to win his 10th Roland Garros, was able to avoid making the unforced errors that dictated his five claycourt defeats during the season.

The defending champion achieved his 37th consecutive victory in Paris, a continuous string that started after he was defeated by Sweden’s Robin Soderling in 2009, and Rafa’s only defeat in his 68 Roland Garros matches.

“I played a very good match, I was very solid... Nicolas is a great player, I’m happy to be back on court Philippe Chatrier,” Nadal told a courtside interviewerin Frenchfollowing the match, which earned him a standing ovation from the crowd.

The Spaniard pointed out that the Roland Garros center court is “the most important” of his career.

Nadal, ranked seventh in the world, will be play in the third round against Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov in his quest to reach the final 16 of the French Open, as Kuznetsov defeated Austria’s Jurgen Melzer 61, 57, 76 (70), 75.