After saving four points from set and not being able to convert the first six that he had within his reach, Rafael Nadal finally got a tie breaker to secure a place in the cAustralian Open quarterfinals for the 14th time.
And now, following a 7-6 (14), 6-2, 6-2 fourth-round victory over fellow southpaw Adrian Mannarino, Nadal he is three wins away from his 21st Grand Slam title, a record in men’s singles tennis.
“The first set had a lot of emotion,” he said. Nadal. “Anything could happen. I was a bit lucky in the end. I had opportunities, he also had many chances.”
Nadal will now face the Canadian Denis Shapovalov, 22, who won 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 over Olympic gold medalist Zverev on the track Margaret Court less than an hour later to go to quarters in Australia for the first time.
Nadal is now even with John Newcomb in the second place of most quarterfinals played in Australia, one behind the 15 of Roger Federer.
It is also the 45th time that the Spaniard has reached the quarter-finals in a tournament of the Grand Slam, behind the 58 of Federer and the 51 of Novak Djokovic.
Share the title of 20 major titles with Federer Y Djokovic. But he is the only one of the three who plays in this edition of the tournament.
WTA
On the other hand, the first seed, Ash Barty, advanced to quarter finals for the fourth year in a row by defeating the 20-year-old American Amanda Anisimova 6-4, 6-3.
Barty aspires to be the first Australian woman to win the Grand Slam of his country since 1978, and has passed the first four rounds without losing a set.
Anisimova, which came after defeating the title champion in the third round, Naomi Osaka, broke Barty’s first serve in the second set, but the two-time major winner responded by winning six of the next seven games.
Barty defeated Anisimova in semifinals of Roland Garros of 2019, before winning his first title. His second major title was Wimbledon last year.
Her next rival will be the 21st ranked Jessica Pegula, who defeated the fifth-seeded, Maria Sakkar 7-6 (0), 6-3.
Barbora Krejcikova, champion in Roland Garros, had no problem to beat 6-2, 6-2 to Victoria Azarenko, with which he anchored in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.
The Czech has advanced to the top eight round in three of the last four tournaments in the Grand Slam.
Krejcikova (seeded 4th) fell in the second round of her two previous trips to melbourne park, where had never before advanced to the quarterfinals.
will be measured with madison keys, who was a semi-finalist Australia in 2015 and finalist in the US Open of 2017.
Keys beat the Spanish Paula Badosa (8va) 6-3, 6-1 in the first of the fourth round duels scheduled for the seventh day in the Rod Laver Arena.
In the first round, the 26-year-old American had eliminated sophia kenin, monarch of the 2020 edition in Australia. This time, he prescribed 26 winners and committed just 18 unforced errors, to continue his unbeaten run in 2022.
Keys pocketed his sixth career title last week, during a preparatory tournament in adelaide.
Krejcikova reached its commitment against Azarenka believing that the 32-year-old Belarusian, once the first of the ranking, was the favourite.
“She has been a champion here. He likes this field. She is very experienced here. I have a lot of respect for her,” he said. Krejcikova. “But I did everything to win. I really prepared myself to live a dream like this. And yes, I’m in the quarterfinals.”
Krejcikova (4th) required only 85 minutes to beat the 2012 champion and 13, who made 28 unforced errors and lost five games on her serve.
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