Nadal wary of 'dangerous' Marterer

Few would give Maximilian Marterer much hope against the King of Clay, but Rafael Nadal is taking nothing for granted at the French Open.

Published : Jun 02, 2018 23:21 IST

Rafael Nadal will not be letting his guard drop as he prepares to face Maximilian Marterer in the French Open fourth round, following his routine win over Richard Gasquet.

The defending champion extended his head-to-head record over Gasquet to 16-0 with a 6-3 6-2 6-2 success on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Next up for the Spaniard is world number 70 Marterer, who conquered Jurgen Zopp in straight sets on Saturday to add to his earlier scalps of Ryan Harrison and 24th seed Denis Shapovalov.

Asked what he knew of his last-16 opponent, Nadal was typically quick to point out victory could not be taken for granted.

"I saw him play. I saw him play the other day against Shapovalov," Nadal told a media conference. "And I saw him play a little bit against Zverev in Munich a couple of weeks ago.

"He's a player that has a good potential. He's a player that has a good serve, good forehand. He hits the ball with big top-spin.

"He has power, so he's a dangerous opponent. He's playing well. He won very easy today, no? Being in that round, winning good matches. He's of course playing well.

"I, of course, need to take care about what's going on. I hope to be ready to play a good match.

"I think I'm improving, too, every day, playing better and better. And that's my goal and my way.

"I have another opportunity to practice tomorrow, to keep finding the right feelings, and then try to play the best match possible on Monday."

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