NEW YORK—Coming into the U.S. Open, Rafael Nadal said that he wasn’t in top form. Nursing a left wrist injury, the Spaniard pulled out of the French Open mid-tournament and then skipped Wimbledon. He reached the semifinals at the Summer Games in Rio, but a week later lost to Borna Coric in Cincinnati in embarrassing fashion.
Sure, he was seeded fourth in Flushing Meadows, but it was unclear how much of an impact his wrist would allow him to have.
Five days and three rounds into the tournament, the 14-time Grand Slam champion looks pretty healthy—and awfully dangerous.
After routing Denis Istomin and Andreas Seppi in the first two rounds, respectively, Nadal again won in straight sets on Friday night, hammering Andrey Kuznetsov, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, under the bright lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium.