Nadal proves his form

Nadal went into the match with a 4-0 winning record against Dolgopolov with the Ukrainian never having even broken the world number one’s service.

Dolgopolov could find no rhythm against Nadal’s trademark topspins on the Rio clay and made little inroads into the world number one’s service games as he raced into a 4-1 lead in less than 20 minutes.

The second set followed a similar pattern, as Nadal broke the mercurial Ukrainian in his second service game, taking it with a drilled backhand that Dolgopolov was unable to dig out at his feet.

In the tie-break, Dolgopolov hit a crucial double-fault followed by an unforced error on his backhand to give Nadal an early lead and the world number one needed no second invitation, taking the set 7-6 and the match in one hour and 41 minutes.