Melbourne, Jan 16:
The 26-year-old was at his very best against Bubik, who is ranked No.27 in the world, 110 places above Nagal (No.137). He went a break up, although Bublik got it back to make it 1-1. However, Nadal raced to a 4-1 lead with two more breaks in the set. This time, Bublik felt the heat as Nagal closed out the set.
In the second set, Nagal went a break up early to take a 1-0 after which he did not look back. In the third set, he again seized the initiative with an early break of serve.
At 5-4 in the first set, Nagal had the chance to serve out the set and the match, but Bublik responded with a break of serve and managed to take the match into the tie-breaker.
At 6-3, Nagal earned himself two match points, but Bublik saved two of them to stay alive. In the end, Nagal prevailed after a double fault from Bublik.
