May 27, 2009 

Rafa Nadal can now watch the final of the Champions League (between  Manchester   United and Barcelona) feeling very proud of himself. Not only did he successfully beat Teimuraz Gabashvili in the second round of Roland Garros, but also, achieved an incredible feat this afternoon.

The World No.1 only needed 2 hours and 17 minutes of play to go past the No.72 in the world in straights sets: 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 and claim his 30th straight victory at Roland Garros beating Chris Evert's record of 29 successive wins at the home of claycourt tennis.

“I’m very happy about my 30th consecutive win at Roland Garros but [to be honest], I come here to win matches. I’m excited about this record but the important thing here is to play well and to be here [to play the final] on the second Sunday,” said Rafa after his match.

"I played better today than [I did] the first day - won in three sets so that's good and I am happy to be in the third round," he added.

When asked about the rain and whether he was worried it could have interrupted play. Rafa clarified that the only thing worrying him “was having a day off. I wanted to continue playing because of the rain, not because of the soccer match. I’m very professional [when it comes to those things].”

“I’m here to play at Roland Garros, not to watch the Champions League final,” he said, “but of course, I’m very happy that I will get to watch it now,” he said smiling.

“Am I happy with the win? Well, I have played better, I’ve had a better feeling [before] but I’ve won in 3 sets, and I’m very happy to play the third round. The next match is going to be real hard for me because I think I will be playing Hewitt and he’s always a difficult opponent.”

THE MATCH

Rafa grabbed an early break to take control of the first set from his 72nd-ranked opponent.

Using a sledgehammer of a forehand, the Russian stuck grimly to the task in the second set until 4-4 when he finally cracked dropping serve to love as Rafa turned up the pressure and then galloped away to a two sets to love lead.

The rest was a mere formality as the world No.1 ran out a comfortable winner chalking up his ninth straight sets win in a row at Roland Garros.

In the third round, Rafa will go up against former world No.1 Lleyton Hewitt, a player he has beaten twice already at Roland Garros in 2006 and 2007. The Australian was a 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 winner over Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan.

“Lleyton is a great player and I know I will have to play my best if I want to have a chance to win,” concluded the defending champion.

Vamos Rafa!