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The defending champion Rafale Nadal made a winning start in Montreal four years ago. Rafa beat the Briton Daniel Evans 7-6, 6-4 in two hours and one minute after a few rain delays. It was Nadal's first match on hard since withdrawing before the Roger Federer clash in Indian Wells in March.
He struggled a bit but did enough to seal the deal in straight sets. The Spaniard dropped 19 points behind the initial shot and got broken two times from as many chances offered to the Briton. On the other hand, Evans delivered an excellent performance after landing in the first serve.
Still, the second serve let him down, suffering three breaks to propel Nadal through despite having two set points in the opening set tie break. The Spaniard had 32 winners and 16 unforced errors. Evans counted a 28-20 ratio, winning more points in the shortest range but losing the edge in the mid-range and most extended exchanges that secured the victory for world no.
2.
Rafael Nadal beat Daniel Evans in the second round in Montreal 2019.
After spraying a forehand mistake, Rafa gave serve away in the encounter's first game. He pulled it back at 2-3 after a great attack and a backhand winner that brought him back to the positive side.
The momentum was now on Nadal's side of the court. He served well in the rest of the set, maintaining the pressure on the other side and creating two set points at 5-4. Determined to keep the points on his racquet, Daniel went for a serve & volley, saved both set points and extended the set.
The Briton gained a boost and created a 6-4 gap in the tie break. Rafa stayed calm and repelled both set points with two forehand winners. He grabbed four straight points for an 8-6 after grueling 70 minutes. As was expected, Nadal broke at the beginning of the second set with another forehand winner.
He confirmed the break before the rain sent them off the court for two hours. Evans saved a break point in game five and broke back in the next one after Nadal's huge forehand error to level the score at 3-3. Nonetheless, the defending champion delivered another break with strong hitting from both wings that pushed him 4-3 up. Rafa served for the victory in game ten and sealed the deal with a smash winner to move into the third round.