Resilient Nadal battles into quarterfinals, faces Thiem
US OPEN Defending champion defeats Georgian Basilashvili in four sets, Austrian knocks out fifthseed Anderson
NEW YORK: Defending champion Rafael Nadal on Sunday reached the US Open quarter-finals for the eighth time where he will face Dominic Thiem, one of only three men to defeat him in 2018.
World No 1 Nadal saw off a battling Nikoloz Basilashvili, the first Georgian in a fourth round in New York, 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4.
“It’s a big victory for me,” said the 32-year-old Nadal, the champion in 2010, 2013 and 2017.
“He was hitting the ball very strong and when I thought I was in control of the points, he always came back with strong shots.” It was world No 37 Basilashvili’s strength, however, which proved his undoing.
His 56 winners were erased by 59 unforced errors, three times as many as Nadal.
THIEM SOLID
Thiem, who beat Nadal on clay in Madrid in the run-up to Paris, booked his place in the quarter-finals for the first time with a 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) win over 2017 runner-up Kevin Anderson.
The ninth-seeded Austrian’s three other appearances in the last-eight of a Slam were all on Paris clay in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Nadal leads their head-to-head 7-3 with all of their matches com-
ing on clay courts, including in the final of Roland Garros in June when he captured an 11th French Open.
“Thiem is a great opponent, he has the big serve and he had a big win against Kevin,” said Nadal who has made the last-eight of every Slam in the same year for the first time since 2011.
DEL POTRO ON FIRE
Elsewhere, Juan Martin del Potro, the 2009 champion, beat Borna Coric 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 to make the last-eight for a third successive year. Coric, 21, saw his challenge undone by a right thigh injury which needed two visits by the trainer as well as general unhappiness with the humidity of the Arther Ashe court.
“To win in straight sets in every round is good for the body and physical condition,” said del Potro. “But every round is a battle. I just hope to keep my level high in the next round.”
The third seeded Argentine will next face John Isner, the last American man standing, who defeated Milos Raonic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, taking his tournament aces total past the 100-mark.
Isner reached the quarter-finals for the first time in seven years and hailed the patriotic tournament atmosphere as a “jungle.”
“There were many ups and downs in the match. The atmosphere was like a jungle,” said Isner of the crowd on the new Louis Armstrong Stadium enjoying a raucous Labor Day weekend.
Isner who will become a father for the first time, said he will not fear del Potro even though he has lost to the Argentine star seven times in 11 meetings.their most recent clash saw del Potro triumph in straight sets in Round 4 at Roland Garros this year.