Nadal outclasses Gasquet in teenage battle

Spain's Rafael Nadal [Images] thrashed fellow-teenager Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in the French Open third round on Friday.

The contest failed to live up to expectations after French hope Gasquet struggled to come to terms either with the occasion or his in-form fellow 18-year-old.

Gasquet produced flashes of brilliance but overall he simply did not possess the will or the weapons to stop the fourth-seeded Spaniard from chalking up his 20th straight victory.

"The pressure affected us both but with what had been said about the match, I think the pressure just got to him more," said a satisfied Nadal, who will next run into another Frenchman, Sebastien Grosjean.

Nadal was fired up from the start and wasted little time in gaining the psychological edge.

He took just two minutes to knock Gasquet reeling with a service break in the first game of the match.

From that moment on, Gasquet was left trying to play catch-up even though a boisterous crowd on centre court did their best to lift their man.

A miscued return from Gasquet settled the opening set in 44 minutes and unfortunately for the Frenchman, the second started in exactly the same way as the first.

Two double faults did little to help his confidence as Nadal, who is looking to become the first man since Mats Wilander in 1982 to win the title on debut, bagged the break with the minimum of effort.

With the contest threatening to run away from him, Gasquet finally broke his opponent's serve with a spectacular backhand volley winner to get the set back to 1-1.

Nadal doused any hopes of a fightback by regaining the advantage in the fifth game as a flat-footed Gasquet meekly hit a backhand into the net.

Such was Nadal's determination, he let out a roar after fashioning a backhand winner from nothing to break Gasquet and gain a two-set advantage.

With his back up against the wall, the Frenchman simply wilted in the third set and capitulated after just one hour 49 minutes with a forehand into the net.

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