Rafael Nadal dominant in 2nd-round victory at French Open

PARIS — Rafael Nadal continued his campaign for a 13th French Open title Wednesday with a dominant 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 second-round win vs. Mackenzie McDonald, and Serena Williams pulled out with an Achilles injury.

Two-time finalist Dominic Thiem also moved into the third round with a 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) win against American qualifier Jack Sock.

German sixth seed Alexander Zverev struggled in a four-hour five-setter against Frenchman Pierre Hugues-Herbert, but the U.S. Open runner-up prevailed 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-4.

Women’s top seed Simona Halep faced no problems in her 6-3, 6-4 win over fellow Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu and moves on to face American Amanda Anisimova, who bested Bernanda Pera, 6-2, 6-0.

Third seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine advanced into the third round despite a second-set slip-up against Mexican qualifier Renata Zarazua, 6-3, 0-6, 6-2.

Svitolina will meet Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova after her 6-3, 6-3 win over Australian Astra Sharma.

But American teenager Coco Gauff crashed out after a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 loss to Italian Martina Trevisan, who meets Greece’s Maria Sakkari next.

Nadal won 11 straight games for a two-set lead as McDonald, who is ranked 236th, was no match for the world No. 2, who booked his third-round place with a crushing cross-court backhand.

The Spanish 19-time major winner will play Italian Stefano Travaglia next after he dispatched Japan’s Kei Nishikori in five.

Zverev will face another Italian in Marco Cecchinato after his four-set win over Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Londero, while third-seeded Thiem will face Norway’s Casper Ruud.

Williams, 39, was due to play Tsvetana Pironkova on Court Philippe Chatrier, but the Bulgarian was given a walkover as Williams quit with the Achilles problems that had already bothered her at the New York Grand Slam.

“(I’m) struggling to walk, so that’s a tell-tale sign that I should try to recover. This is not a nagging injury. This is an acute injury,” Williams told a video news conference.

“If it was my knee, that would be more devastating for me but this is something that just happened and it’s super acute. For lack of a better word, I just ran into bad timing and bad luck in New York.”

Victoria Azarenka, who defeated Williams in the U.S. Open semifinals a few weeks ago, was beaten 6-2, 6-2 by Slovakia’s Anna Schmiedlova.

Azarenka, a former world No. 1, said she could not tell if Williams was hiding the injury in the U.S. Open and refused to blame the short space between two majors as the reason for her defeat.

“I don’t think about what happened in New York today. So to me it doesn’t really matter,” Azarenka said. “I didn’t really feel like there was anything wrong (with Williams). I felt that the match was close.”

Nadal said he can sympathize with Williams’ situation after he recalled pulling out of the 2016 French Open when his wrist was bothering him.

“Of course, it’s very sad news for tennis, for Roland Garros, and especially for her. Sorry for her,” Nadal said.

“That is what happened to me in 2016. I didn’t say much to the people (media), but I was playing with an infiltration. I know the wrist was in trouble, but I wanted to give me a chance. (It) is very tough.”