Rafael Nadal powers on at US Open and promises tournament has better tennis to come

US Open
Rafael Nadal looks up

Rafael Nadal was in fine form as he easily overpowered Vasek Pospisil to set up a third-round clash with Karen Khachanov at the US Open.

The defending champion took exactly two hours to clinch a 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory.

Nadal has played both his matches so far at night, when there is some respite from the searingly-hot conditions, although the humidity means temperatures have still been pushing 30C.

Indeed, the hot and humid weather has grabbed more headlines than anything else at Flushing Meadows so far, but the world number one expects the level of tennis on show to go up as the temperature goes down.

“The good thing is I think things are going to improve the next couple of days,” he said.

“We’ll be able to see, I think, better tennis than we saw the first couple of days of the US Open because playing under those conditions is, first thing, not healthy and, second thing, is not good for anybody: not good for the fans, not good for the players.

“The show is a little bit worse under these conditions.”

Elsewhere, Jack Sock fell to Nikoloz Basilashvili 4-6 6-3 6-2 7-6, but Canadian Denis Shapovalov outlasted Andreas Seppi 6-4 4-6 5-7 7-6 6-4.

More from Tennis365:

Rafael Nadal

Latest