Nadal roars back to win 1000th match

Rafael Nadal had to fight back from a first set bagel to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Miami Open. Nadal, who was playing the 1,000th match of his career, secured his 822nd win with a 0-6 6-2 6-3 win over the German.

Despite being the heavy favourite going in to the match, Nadal was uncharacteristically out of sorts in the opening set. Attacking from the off, Kohlschreiber was able to break the Spaniard in his opening service game, and then twice more to bagel him in a 25 minute opening set.

It was the first time Nadal had been bagelled in the first set since 2008 (against Youzhny).

But after leaving the court at the set break, Nadal returned a different player.

A hold in the opening game of the second set sparked the Spaniard – and the crowd – in to life. With the pair trading fearsome blows, it was Kohlschreiber’s turn to struggle with the pressure, Nadal racing away to level the match at one set all.

With momentum firmly in his favour, Nadal attacked early in the decider. Kohlschreiber was unable to respond as the Spaniard won 20 of 21 points on his serve in the third set. First set scare aside, it was a routine win for the Spaniard, who is chasing his first Miami Open title.