May 29, 2009

Rafa Nadal has set up a fourth-round clash at Roland Garros against Robin Soderling (who beat 14th-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 6-7, 7-5, 6-2, 7-6), after blasting past Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets 6-1 6-3 6-1, in a little under two hours.

"For sure it was my best match here so far," said the champion.

"I felt much better today and a win against Lleyton is always a great win. It was an amazing result."

"It's tough against him," admitted Hewitt. "You have to start well as he is such a great player when he's in front. He goes for his shots and dictates all the time so it gets harder and harder”.

"He's hitting the ball extremely clean and he has that heavy spin. He makes you rush, he hits passing shots on the run and makes you try harder."

THE MATCH

The four-time defending champion converted 7-of-13 break chances and posted a 76 percent success rate on his first serve. Conversely, Hewitt was limited to just one break of serve in three opportunities and fell to 4-5 lifetime against Rafa, which includes losses in each of their three French Open matchups.

Hewitt put up most resistance in the second set when he retrieved a break of serve, showing his renowned fighting spirit after falling behind early on.

But Nadal was soon back in front, producing one of the shots of the tournament with a forehand winner down the line at full stretch to break serve again

Vamos Rafa!