Spanish second seed Rafael Nadal will meet Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the Australian Open third round after both won their matches on Thursday.
Rafael Nadal
Melbourne:
Nadal’s bid for an outright men’s record 21st Grand Slam continued with a 6-1 6-4 6-2 win over American qualifier Michael Mmoh on Rod Laver Arena.
British number three Norrie eventually beat Russia’s Roman Safiullin to reach the last 32 for the first time.
After a long rain delay, Norrie clinched a 3-6 7-5 6-3 7-6 (7-3) win.
Nadal was playing next door to Norrie on the Rod Laver Arena and the manner of his victory against Mmah - ranked 175 places lower than the world number two - was much more straightforward than the Briton’s nervy finish.
However, there was one mishap for the 2009 champion - and it was nothing to do with his opponent.
Instead, it was a rowdy spectator who broke Nadal’s rhythm. The woman disrupted the match by shouting obscenities and gesturing rudely as he prepared to serve for the second set.
A bemused Nadal asked if she was directing the abuse at him and laughed off the incident, only to be stopped again as she continued.
Eventually she had to be escorted out of the stadium by security, with cheers from the rest of the crowd accompanying her.
Unruffled, Nadal served out the set with a hold to love and went to clinch the match with two more breaks in the third set
Earlier, Sofia Kenin said she ‘couldn’t really handle the pressure’ of being defending champion after being knocked by Kaia Kanepi. The American fourth seed, 22, was beaten 6-3 6-2 in the second round in just 64 minutes.
Unseeded Estonian Kanepi, 35, dominated throughout, hitting 22 winners to Kenin’s 10 at Melbourne Park.
Kanepi will face Croatian 28th seed Donna Vekic in the third round.
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