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 Spaniard Nadal was in all sorts of trouble, trailing by a set and
5-4 and with 69th-ranked Rosol serving at 30-0, but his Czech
opponent framed a basic backhand volley at 30-15 and blew his
chance, Nadal going on to win 1-6 7-5 7-6(4).
A Rosol double fault allowed former world number one Nadal to take
the second set and the decider looked like being a no-contest as
Rosol's challenge began to unravel.
Nadal moved a break ahead but, at 4-2, Rosol played some stunning
groundstrokes to earn three break points and though Nadal saved two
of them he then blazed a forehand long.
There has been no love lost between the players since Rosol stunned
Nadal in the Wimbledon second round in 2012, with Nadal gaining
revenge at the 2014 Wimbledon tournament.
Angry looks were exchanged as the decider moved into a tiebreak in
which the Spaniard trailed 3-0 before Rosol's forehand deserted him
and Nadal won seven of the next eight points to get the job done.
"It was a very tough match emotionally," Nadal, who lost the opening
set in 23 minutes, said.
"At the same time, it's a great victory. It's important for me to
have these kinds of comebacks. I've been in these situations more
times than I would like this year, so I'm happy to win a match like
this."
[to top of second column] |
Fourteen-times grand slam champion Nadal, who has already booked his
place at the ATP World Tour Finals despite a relatively lean year,
will play Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov or Ukraine's Sergiy Stakhovsky
in round two.
Top seed and local favourite Roger Federer begins his quest for a
seventh Basel title on Tuesday against Mikhail Kukushkin.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Frank Pingue/Mark
Lamport-Stokes)
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