It might only be his third match back from a seven month long injury sabbatical, but Rafa was just too good for Jeremy Chardy today. The World No.32 played an erratic match, committing one error after another, while for Rafa it was all about consistency as he continues on his road to recovery. The King of clay is gaining form and fitness with every passing point, and his movement on court is also improving. What must however be disappointing for not just spectators but also Nadal himself was Chardy’s performance, as the Frenchman hardly troubled the World No.5 as he played some poor tennis. Rafa got four breaks of serve and was never broken in the entire match as he served at 79 percent.

That first set was disastrous for Chardy while it could not have gone better for Nadal. The Spaniard started off with a break of serve in the very first game, but was put though a massive test in his second game as he committed a massive three double faults, but held on to serve. Chardy played another poor service game in the third game, and before we knew it, it was already 4-0 to Nadal. Nadal then put the final nails in the coffin by holding on to serve without any problems, taking the set 6-2. The Spaniard won 18 out of 20 first serve points and also won 11 out of 22 return points.

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In the second set, the Frenchman played some more poor tennis and literally handed the break of serve to Rafa in the third game. What was even more disappointing was the fact that he gave away the three break point opportunities that he had in the sixth game to hand the set over to the Spaniard who accepted his chance to close out the match gleefully.

The King of clay won the match 6-2,6-2 in just over an hour today.