Rafa wins first match of 2012 on grass in Halle Opener

Rafael Nadal beat Lukas Lacko 7-5, 6-1 in the second round at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle.

Nadal won eight of the final nine games against to seal the win in 76 minutes.

In the quarter-finals, the Spaniard will face Philipp Kohlschreiber.

“At the beginning, it was more difficult to return. I tried to put more balls inside, trying to return with a bit of slice. That put me into a bit more of a rhythm,” said Nadal. “In the second set, I played with [fewer] mistakes, which is the most important thing. I'm happy. Every match here is very dangerous after playing on clay for two and a half months. Tomorrow will be another tough match.”

"I haven't played here for a long time. As I said, every hour I spend on the court works for me on the grass because I haven't had a lot of time to adapt. Tomorrow is a big challenge because Philipp is the defending champion.

"He's a very complete player. He does everything well."

“I'm very happy to be in Halle after a long time without coming here,” Nadal said. “For me, it's always special to be back in a place where I haven't been in quite for a while.”

Kohlschreiber defeated Lukasz Kubot 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3.

The German won 77 per cent of his service points and firing 11 aces.

He broke Kubot four times during their two hours and four minutes encounter.

“I could have won the first set but he took his chances. I also think that he didn’t play on the same level in the second and third set,” assessed Kohlschreiber. “He gave me an early break in the second which encouraged me. I always had the feeling that I was a hint better than he was. But that’s just a feeling. Sometimes you lose the first set and still think you are the better player. Fortunately, the feeling I had turned out to be true. As I said, I think he didn’t keep up his level.”


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