King of clay Rafael Nadal celebrated his return to his favourite surface with a facile 6-1, 6-1 win against hapless German Alexander Waske at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart.
In what was his first match since the defeat in the Wimbledon final to Roger Federer, ‘Rafa’ looked in awesome form and the spunky Spaniard dropped just two games in the entire match, breaking his opponent five times during the course of it.
Elated with the show, the world number two player said
It was important for me to start off good in this tournament and to find my rhythm on clay quickly. The court is very fast and this is an advantage for my topspin forehand.
Another German awaits Nadal in the second round and the top seeded Spaniard is not ready to underestimate Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Nadal said
I’ve played him twice this year. I lost one set against him at the Australian Open. In the quarter-finals of Monte-Carlo it was a bit easier, where I defeated him in straight sets.
He is a good player, who has improved a lot and had a great season so far, which he proved by winning in Munich.
In other matches, Gael Monfils created a major upset by upstaging second seed Tommy Robredo, while fifth seed Guillermo Canas also limped out of the tournament with cramps.
