After his first-round match at Qatar yesterday, the Spaniard World No. 2 Rafael Nadal asserted that a good start is always important to begin the season. Well, the Spaniard had to sweat it out against German Philipp Kohlschreiber in his opening match yesterday, before he could earn a hard-earned victory in three sets with a 6-3 6-7 (7) 6-3 scoreline in this ATP World Tour 250 Event, being played here at Doha, Qatar. Now, Nadal will take on another German Denis Gremelmayr to secure his berth in the quarterfinal of this tournament.

Nadal has had a good last season, but if we scrutinize it keenly then it had been pretty poor for someone, who had claimed three Grand Slam titles in 2010 and also won most of the ATP Masters titles on clay. Last season, Nadal was hurt badly by current World No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who beat the feisty Spaniard in six finals including Wimbledon and US Open. At times, Nadal looked utterly frustrated and disappointed against the Serbian, but finally finished the season with a fine 69-15 win-loss record and three titles including Roland Garros.

On the other hand, Denis Gremelmayr has had a poor last season with a 4-10 win-loss record. The German turned pro in 2000, but he has not won a title on ATP World Tour so far. He reached his career’s best ranking of World No. 59 in 2008. Last year, he managed to qualify for the Aussie Open but failed to move beyond the second-round. This will be a second-meeting between these two. Last time they met in 2008 in Barcelona semis, where Nadal outclassed the German in straight sets. We can expect the same today – provided Nadal wouldn’t make any silly mistakes.