Indian Wells, California - A misfiring Rafa Nadal had trouble hitting the mark but the third seeded Spaniard still had enough to beat American Donald Young 6-4 6-2 and advance to the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Nadal, a three-time champion at Indian Wells, looked out of sorts in a sloppy opening set slamming an easy overhead into the net to give Young an early break and then later double-faulting to hand over another.
But the 47th ranked Young was no better at finding the target saving just two of eight break points as a fist-pumping Nadal walked off Stadium court at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden with the victory.
While the opening set was a comedy of unforced errors the second saw Nadal flash some of his top form as he raced to a 5-1 lead closing out the match in a tidy 80 minutes.
Ninth seeded Czech Tomas Berdych had earlier kicked off another sunny day of action with a straight-forward 6-4 6-2 win over American Steve Johnson.
Jack Sock, however, will carry the American flag into the round of 16 after rallying past 15th seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6 6-3 6-2.
Thirteenth seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon scored a comfortable 6-2 7-5 victory over German qualifier Michael Berrer while Czech Lukas Rosol was a 6-4 6-7 (4) 7-6 (3) winner over Dutchman Robin Haase. – Reuters