Rafael Nadal will be hoping his gammy knee doesn't restrict him as he plays Lukas Lacko in the third round of the 2012 Australian Open.
Nadal has a strapping the size of Melbourne on his left knee but he's looked pretty good in his first two matches and he was able to ease pass former world number two Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday without ever really needing to hit top gear.
Nadal made a blistering start, racing out to a 5-1 lead and although Haas almost pulled it back to 5-5, there was never any sense that Nadal was in danger of losing.
“I started match playing fantastic, especially the first seven games,” Nadal said. “I think he played well. He played aggressive. He played with very good second serves. For moments, his first serve was really difficult to read. I think he played well. You cannot expect win easy against nobody, and especially against Tommy Haas. He's fantastic player. That to say, happy to have this strong match early on.”
Lacko's had a bit of a yo-yo career so far, reaching a career high of 60 two years ago but then dropping back outside the top 100. He's a very skillful player and Nadal certainly knows what he's capable of - they met in Doha last year and Lacko bagelled him before losing 7-6(3), 0-6, 6-3.
Lacko has the shots but it's the mental side of the game which has held him back so far. However he's shown impressive resilience so far this week, seeing off veteran Ivan Ljubicic 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and then ousting Donald Young in four sets.
However he'll be playing Nadal right in the heat of the day and we wouldn't be surprised if the scoreline is similar to when they played at the 2010 Aussie Open - Nadal winning 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
