Tennis-Nadal making all the right noises as form surges

(Adds quotes) By Martyn Herman PARIS, May 30 (Reuters) - Listen closely and you can hear the difference, defending champion Rafa Nadal said on Saturday as the Spaniard continued his upsurge in form to reach the last 16 of the French Open. The old fizz definitely seems to have returned to the champion's groundstrokes this week with the 28-year-old producing a note-perfect display to crush unseeded Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 6-1 6-3 6-2. Nadal's heavy topspin game does produce the most distinctive music. When he is in the groove, his racket strings tear into the ball with perfect timing, the RPM metre goes into the red and his blade delivers a rasping sound as the ball explodes off the ground over the other side of the net like a hand grenade. Lately, Nadal's big forehand weapon has been degraded, with the ball often dropping short and lacking bite. That is why, with defeats cropping up with alarming regularity on clay, many have predicted the end of his decade of dominance in Paris, with Novak Djokovic the man most likely to knock the Mallorcan off his perch. They could meet in the quarter-final, providing Nadal beats American Jack Sock and Djokovic overcomes Richard Gasquet, but whereas Djokovic was being tipped as the clear favourite a few days ago, Nadal looks to be sharpening his game nicely. And it sounds good. "With all the progress that I made, I can say I'm on the right path and I'm very happy," Nadal said. "I'm working really hard. This is why I'm here now. In the past I didn't have enough confidence. I wanted to overdo things, to do things so well that I was slightly stressed. "Something that is important is to try and control time and your pace and your rhythm, and that's when the balls make a nice sound off the strings." Nadal, who is now 69-1 at the French Open, is not getting carried away though. "I won three matches. I have not lost any sets. I think I'm quite consistent. There is no doubt that it was not my worst first week here at Roland Garros," he said. "I will have to go a notch up and improve my tennis. Otherwise I won't be able to go deeper. "I think I have the right foundation for this leap forward for the second week. I think my level is rather good, but then it all depends on the other player." (Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Justin Palmer and Ian Chadband)