BNP Paribas : Nadal too good for Verdasco
Rafael Nadal avenged his Australian Open loss to Fernando Verdasco with a straight-sets victory in the BNP Paribas Open third round.
Nadal, a three-time champion at Indian Wells, was stunned by his Spanish countryman in the opening round at Melbourne Park, but there was no repeat on Tuesday as he claimed a 6-0 7-6 (11-9) win.
With it, he continued his dominance of Verdasco, improving his winning record against his fellow left-hander to 15-3.
Nadal dominated the opening set and broke three times, losing just six points on his serve to cruise to an early lead.
Verdasco put up more of a fight in the second and went close to levelling the match, wasting five set points before a double fault cost him.
Fourth seed Nadal would end up coming from 6-3 down in the tie-break to close out a straight-sets win.
Awaiting him in the fourth round is talented German Alexander Zverev, who earlier beat Gilles Simon in straight sets.
