Rafael Nadal races into French Open fourth round with one-sided win
| French Open |
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| Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May- 11 June |
| Coverage: Listen to live radio commentary and follow text coverage of selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and online. |
Nine-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal produced a brilliant display to beat Nikoloz Bashashvili 6-0 6-1 6-0.
The fourth seed needed only 90 minutes to see off the Georgian and secured his place in the fourth round with his most one-sided win at Roland Garros.
Nadal, 31 on Saturday, has now won 98 of 100 best-of-five clay-court matches.
The Spaniard is bidding to become the first player in the Open era – and only the second in history – to win 10 titles at any Grand Slam event.
Margaret Court is the only player to have won 10 or more titles at one Grand Slam event, winning the Australian Open on 11 occasions between 1960 and 1973.
Nadal has a 75-2 win-loss record at Roland Garros with his only defeats coming against Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009 and Novak Djokovic in the 2015 quarter-finals.
Reigning champion Novak Djokovic faces Argentine Diego Schwartzmann later.
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Nadal won the first set in 23 minutes and won the next five games before world number 63 Basilashvili finally got on the scoreboard.
The Spaniard wrapped up the set by winning the next game and clinched victory with a storm threatening to interrupt play.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion will face compatriot Roberto Bautista Agut in the next round.
My best match in a while – Nadal
“It is always important to be through, that’s the most important thing,” said Nadal. “But obviously when you have positive feelings it is even more important.
“Basilashvili had been playing well. He won against Gilles Simon in the first round who is a tough opponent and also Viktor Troicki.
“I’m happy because I had never played against him and I knew it would be tough.
“He hits the ball so quick but I believe I played my best match in a while.”