Nadal saves the day in a long and tedious match by the rain

Nadal beat Evans in a duel that was three times stopped due to bad weather. Matches Federer's 378 victories in 1,000 Masters. He will play in the round of 16 against Pella.

Rafa Nadal saved a complicated and tedious day on his return to the tracks almost a month after his last game, that semifinal he lost in Wimbledon against Federer. The Balearic overcame a bad start and three stops because of the rain, two of them long with passage through the locker room, and got rid of an awkward Daniel Evans, who scratched a break in the first game and had two set points in the tiebreaker of the first sleeve. Nadal endured and did just enough to win in the second round of the 1,000 Masters of Canada, where he defends title: 7-6 (6) and 6-4 in two hours of play, spread over more than four and a half times in real time. Be that as it may, the world number two, which must reach the final to keep it, added its 378 victory in the second tournament category of the circuit to match Federer at the top of the historic table. This Thursday will be measured in the round of 16 with Argentine Guido Pella, who beat Moldovan Radu Albot (6-3, 2-6 and 7-6 (2)).

Montreal woke up covered with clouds and with a lot of humidity (81%). The chances of it raining were high and that's why Nadal asked to play in the first turn of the plant, 12:00 Canadian time (6:00 p.m. in Spain). I wanted to have the maximum options of playing the whole game and not having to double the next day. At that unusual time for him he went to the cold track, without rhythm and failure in the first bars. He took advantage of Evans, more dynamic with his kit of the Japanese firm Yoroi, which makes clothes "for samurai of modern times." True to his bushido (the virtues of those warriors), he was able to dominate because the blows of his rival reached him midway, easily to find winners.

At one point he put 2-0 in favor, then 3-1 with two blank serves and it was not until the sixth game, after a miniparada by a slight sparking, when he gave up control and the first break. Nadal smelled the blood went for him. In fact, he had two break points to place with 5-4 and serve. He failed and with 6-5 in favor the duel stopped again, this time for half an hour. On the way back, Evans matched and had his golden chance in the tiebreaker: 6-4 and service. The glory of winning a set to Nadal was for the cat and four points followed by Manacor gave him the first set and tranquility.

It was noticed when in the second round, Rafa started with a break. He consolidated it and the meeting was postponed again by a rain that took this time almost two hours to stop. The return was not easy. It was necessary to start over and Nadal, who was launched when he had to pick up his things and go to the player zone a second time, took a few minutes to recover the cruising speed. That's why he lost his serve a second time by virtue of Evans, who hurt him frequently with his backhand cut. Screwing the ball with his drive to find good angles and slight legs, he managed to dominate, get involved and finish the job in a day to forget. Surely better will come.