But Nadal stood form, winning 13 out of 14 points on his first serve as Kecmanovic was unable to build upon his break back.
The world No 2 got his chance with Kecmanovic on serve with Nadal leading 6-5 and a couple unforced errors from the Serbian handed his opponent the match.
And Nadal believes he’s in a good place moving forward, with one eye on the two Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami next month.
“It’s true that I missed the opportunity to win the match with my serve at 5-4 [in the second set], but except for that, I think I played a very good match,” he added.