DUO MOVE UP A GEAR
Nadal and Caroline turn on style to reach quarter-finals
RAFAEL Nadal battled through a huge test to make his 10th Australian Open quarter-final as a ruthless Caroline Wozniacki kicked into full gear to book a date with Carla Suarez Navarro.
On an overcast and muggy day at Melbourne Park, the Spanish World No 1 was up against his most dangerous opponent yet in pocket-rocket Diego Schwartzman, one of the smallest men on tour.
The Argentine 24th seed endeared with his astonishingly powerful groundstrokes before Nadal prevailed 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-3 in almost four hours on Rod Laver Arena.
It kept alive his push for a 17th Grand Slam title and also ensured he will remain No 1 will the new rankings come out after the tournament ends.
“It was a great battle,” said Nadal, who is chasing his second Melbourne title after beating Roger Federer in the 2009 final.
“Of course, I feel little bit tired, but I was able to keep fighting until the end.”
He will play sixth seed Marin Cilic for a place in the semi-finals after the Croat beat Spanish 10th seed Pablo Correna Busta 6-7 (27), 6-3, 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-3).
The win was Cilic’s 100th at a Grand Slam.
“I have played great tennis from the first round against tough opponents and now I am really looking to the next match, it will be definitely be a big challenge,” Cilic said of the Nadal clash.
Third seed Grigor Dimitrov, who beat local star Nick Kyrgios 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), will play Briton Kyle Edmund, who reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final with a 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 win over Italy’s Andreas Seppi.
Second seed Caroline said she is playing with “nothing to lose” after galloping into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time in six years.
The 27-year-old Dane crunched 25 winners in a 63-minute masterclass as she thrashed Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova 63, 6-0 to move a step closer to a long-awaited first grand slam title.
“I feel good. I think being almost out of the tournament, you have nothing to lose after that,” she told reporters.
Such is her confidence that Caroline even attempted a between the legs ‘tweener’ in the first set.
“I think you can tell my confidence is pretty good, I was pretty proud of that,” she said of the trick shot that failed to earn her a point but delighted the Rod Laver crowd.
“I’ve tried a few in practice and made a couple but usually make a fool out of myself.”
She will face the unseeded Carla Suarez Navarro from Spain for a place in the semi-finals and leads their head-to-head series 52, with both the Spaniard’s wins coming on clay.
“My team all the time they say (to) me, play aggressive, play aggressive. That’s I think what I did,” said Carla, one of the few who still uses a one-handed backhand.
The 37th-ranked Elise Mertens also made the last eight, becoming the first Belgian since Kim Clijsters in 2012 to get so far in Australia.
She posted a straight-sets 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 win over Croat Petra Martic and will play fourth seed Elina Svitolina. Agencies