Rafael Nadal wins Acapulco opener to match best career start

Nadal defeated Dennis Kudla 6-3, 6-2 in Mexican Open

Spanish Tennis star Rafael Nadal matched his best start to an ATP tour season at 11-0, defeating Dennis Kudla of the US by 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round of the Mexican Open.

The 35-year-old won his 21^st record grand slam title at the Australian open last month. Earlier the most number of Grand Slams was with Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer (20 Grand Slams each)

World number five Nadal broke 100th-ranked Kudla in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead and held from there to claim the first set of their first career meeting.

When Kudla sent a forehand long to surrender the first break of the second set, Nadal seized a 2-1 lead and held at love to 3-1.

Nadal broke again for a 4-1 edge and held twice more, claiming the victory on a forehand winner after one hour and 16 minutes.

Nadal fired eight aces and won 36 of 40 points on his serve in the dominating outing.

The Spaniard seeks his 91st career ATP title and third of the year, having also won a Slam tune-up tournament at Melbourne.

Russian top seed Daniil Medvedev, the reigning US Open champion whom Nadal rallied to beat in five sets in the Australian Open final, began his Acapulco run with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Frenchman Benoit Paire.

Nadal will face Stefan Kozlov of the US. The American defeated Grigor of Bulgaria in the first round.

“It would be amazing, it would be a great honour for me, “Kozlov said of a potential second round encounter with Nadal. “I think he’s a fantastic person, and I have a great respect for him. I’ll really enjoy it, definitely.”