Rafael Nadal is set to face American Tim Smyczek in the second round of the Australian Open at the Rod Laver Arena. The match would be immediately followed by women's second round fixture between Jarmila Gajdosova and Simona Halep.
Nadal, despite being low on confidence showed no respite for his first round opponent, defeating Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3, 6-3 and 6-2, making a statement to the critics as well, with the victory.
While his opponent for today, Smyczek won his match in straight sets, but had to sweat it out as the score read a tight 7-6 (7-2), 7-5, 6-4. The American knows the opponent he is pitted against. The former world number one would show no mercy.
They have never met before in any ATP tournaments.
Smyczek is currently ranked 112 in the ATP circuit and has not won a single title in the circuit, which stands contrast to Nadal's career.
Rafael Nadal has won an impressive 14 grand slams after turning pro in 2001. But, amongst all the grand slams, it is the Australian Open, which the Spaniard has only won once in 2009, while he has won the Wimbledon and US Open twice each and he has been at his best in the French Open, winning it nine times.
Moving into the women's competition, third seed Simona Halep cruised through her first round match in straight sets against Karin Knapp with the score reading, 6-3 and 6-2.
The story was the same for Halep's second round opponent, Slovakian Jarmila Gajdosova who also put up an impressive display against her opponent in the first round, Alexandra Dulgheru defeating in straight sets, 6 -3 and 6-4.
Halep put up an impressive performance in grand slams of 2014, where she was very close to winning her first grand slam, as she reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and finals and semi-finals of the French Open and Wimbledon respectively.
The Romanian would be eager to push for her first grand slam. Will this be her year?
The player has started the year in the right fashion winning the Shenzen Open in China, but she is aware about the quality at the offing in the first grand slam of the year.
If the player plays to her potential, there are very few women in the WTA circuit, who can beat the Romanian on her day.
Where to watch Live
The second round match between Rafael Nadal Vs Tim Smyczek will be shown live on Sony Six in India (1:30 pm IST, 7 pm local time, 8 am GMT), which will be immediately followed by the Jarmila Gajdosova Vs Simona Halep encounter with the live streaming option on Livsports.in. International viewers can watch the matches online via the live video option on Ausopen.com.
