Tennis-Nadal looks strong in opening Acapulco win

Rafa Nadal showed no signs of rust in his first action in a month as the top seed easily dispatched Mischa Zverev 6-3 6-3 at the Acapulco International on Tuesday. Nadal, competing for the first time since falling to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final, has reached the final in all three previous appearances in Acapulco and now has a record of 15-1 in the event.

The world No. 2 faces Nick Kyrgios in the round of 16 after the Australian defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3 7-5. Second seed Alexander Zverev lost just one point on serve in a dominant 6-3 6-3 win over Alexei Popyrin while John Isner, seeded third, recorded 18 aces in a 6-3 4-6 6-3 win over France’s Adrian Mannarino.

Isner next faces fellow American Sam Querrey, who beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3 6-2. Fourth seed Diego Schwartzman needed more than two hours to advance past Marius Copil 6-3 4-6 6-1. Schwartzman has returned to action after a right leg injury forced him to retire at the Rio Open last week, preventing him from defending his title.

He next faces Briton Cameron Norrie, who defeated Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2 2-6 6-2. (Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter Rutherford)