AGL 38.02 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.21%)
AIRLINK 197.36 Increased By ▲ 3.45 (1.78%)
BOP 9.54 Increased By ▲ 0.22 (2.36%)
CNERGY 5.91 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (1.2%)
DCL 8.82 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (1.61%)
DFML 35.74 Decreased By ▼ -0.72 (-1.97%)
DGKC 96.86 Increased By ▲ 4.32 (4.67%)
FCCL 35.25 Increased By ▲ 1.28 (3.77%)
FFBL 88.94 Increased By ▲ 6.64 (8.07%)
FFL 13.17 Increased By ▲ 0.42 (3.29%)
HUBC 127.55 Increased By ▲ 6.94 (5.75%)
HUMNL 13.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-0.74%)
KEL 5.32 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1.92%)
KOSM 7.00 Increased By ▲ 0.48 (7.36%)
MLCF 44.70 Increased By ▲ 2.59 (6.15%)
NBP 61.42 Increased By ▲ 1.61 (2.69%)
OGDC 214.67 Increased By ▲ 3.50 (1.66%)
PAEL 38.79 Increased By ▲ 1.21 (3.22%)
PIBTL 8.25 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (2.23%)
PPL 193.08 Increased By ▲ 2.76 (1.45%)
PRL 38.66 Increased By ▲ 0.49 (1.28%)
PTC 25.80 Increased By ▲ 2.35 (10.02%)
SEARL 103.60 Increased By ▲ 5.66 (5.78%)
TELE 8.30 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.97%)
TOMCL 35.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.09%)
TPLP 13.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-1.85%)
TREET 22.16 Decreased By ▼ -0.57 (-2.51%)
TRG 55.59 Increased By ▲ 2.72 (5.14%)
UNITY 32.97 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.03%)
WTL 1.60 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (5.26%)
BR100 11,727 Increased By 342.7 (3.01%)
BR30 36,377 Increased By 1165.1 (3.31%)
KSE100 109,513 Increased By 3238.2 (3.05%)
KSE30 34,513 Increased By 1160.1 (3.48%)

Spain's Rafael Nadal cruised to a two-set victory in his singles debut at the Brazil Open here late Thursday but then the 11-time grand slam winner blasted the ATP Tour for its choice of balls. The former world number one needed only 78 minutes to prevail over Brazilian Joao Souza, ranked 140th in the world, 6-3, 6-4.
Nadal advanced to Friday's quarter-finals where he will face Argentine Carlos Berlocq, who beat eighth seed Albert Ramos 7-6 (9/7), 6-4. "It was an important victory for me," Nadal said. "the conditions are very difficult. The court is very fast, the ball too.
"The problem is not the court. The problem is the ball which is very bad," he added.
The 26-year-old Spanish star said the Brazilian organisers of the event were not to blame. "It's the fault of the ATP for allowing play with a (tennis) ball of poor quality. The ATP does not have the capacity or the infrastructure to be able to analyse the conditions before the tournament begins," he added.
He said he made a "good decision" by withdrawing Wednesday from a scheduled doubles match he was to have played with Argentina's David Nalbandian against Argentine Horacio Zeballos and Austrian Oliver Marach. Nadal said he was able to rest his knee, after a tough week of play in Chile last week, and made clear that his priority here was to play the singles event.
The $455,775 Brazil Open is part of the Latin American clay court circuit, along with the Vina del Mar and the Mexico Open in Acapulco where Nadal plans to play later this month. He said he did not feel any particular discomfort during the match. "I was more or less OK, perfect no. I am in a process of recovery," he noted. "The important thing is to have regularity, to be able to compete. I am confident that with the days and weeks, I will regain what I am missing."

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013

Comments

Comments are closed.