NADAL STAYS ON TRACK FOR SLAMS RECORD AS BACK INJURY EASES

MELBOURNE: World No 2 Rafael Nadal said his minor back injury was improving by the day as he accelerated his pursuit of a record 21st Grand Slam title with victory over Cameron Norrie at the Australian Open Saturday.

The Spanish second seed has altered his service motion due to lower-back tightness that has plagued him all tournament, although it didn’t stop him emphatically demolishing his first two opponents in straight sets. Britain’s 69th-ranked Norrie proved a tougher assignment, with Nadal pressed much harder before emerging a 7-5, 6-2, 7-5 winner in an empty Rod Laver Arena as Melbourne went into a five-day coronavirus lockdown.

It put him into a Slam last 16 for the 49th time, behind only Roger Federer (67) and Novak Djokovic (53). “Today is better. First day I feel an improvement, and that’s the most important thing, more than any other thing,” he said of his back. Nadal next faces fiery Italian Fabio Fognini, who beat Australian Alex de Minaur in straight sets.

Nadal’s victory keeps him on course to meet Djokovic in the final, although the defending champion is under an injury cloud after suffering what he called an abdominal “muscle tear”. It remains unclear whether the Serb will be able to play his fourth-round match against Milos Raonic on Sunday.

Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev all reached the last 16 on Saturday.

Ash Barty, the women’s top seed, said it was “very strange” to play behind closed doors.

Barty’s straightforward 6-2, 6-4 win over Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova put her into the fourth round without dropping a set as she bids to become the first Australian winner since Chris O’neil in 1978.

“It’s very strange, it changes the sound in the court a little bit,” Barty said of the empty, 7,500-seat Margaret Court Arena.

“It kind of felt a little bit like practice,” she added.