Nadal turns up power to leave courageous Khachanov battered

Rafael Nadal felt “happy about almost everything” as he powered through to the second week at Wimbledon with a Centre Court beasting of one of the brightest young players in the game.

Twenty-one-year-old Russian Karen Khachanov felt the full force of Nadal for almost an hour before joining the battle rather too late, as Spain’s two-time champion sealed a 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) victory.

Watched by his compatriot and friend, golf’s Masters champion Sergio Garcia, who arrived in his green jacket, Nadal showed why he has won 15 tennis majors in his time and might add another.

Real Madrid fan Nadal was also playing to an audience that included former Bernabeu star David Beckham, too, and he put on a show for the first set and a half that had all observers giddy about his level.

Nobody slips and slides with more control than the 10-time French Open winner, and nobody cracks a forehand with quite the ferocity that Nadal loads behind the ball.

One such shot, blistering and across court, came in the fourth game and must have terrified Khachanov.

This was the young Russian’s first experience of playing Nadal, and he was given a going-over in the early stages. It was to his credit that Khachanov fought back strongly, sparked by a sequence of four aces to win the fifth game of the second set.

Nadal even had to save a set point when trailing 6-5 in the third, but he did so with a delicious dropshot winner that showed his game was still there in case of such emergencies.

Two thrilling passing shots fizzed past Khachanov in the tie-break, and the match was done when Khachanov hooked a service return long.

Nadal was runner-up at the Australian Open in Jan- uary, champion at Roland Garros in June, and he marches on in London.

“I think for a while I played fantastically,” Nadal said. “The first set and a half was at a great, great level, then it was a little bit tougher.”

Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut caused an upset by demolishing former US Open finalist Kei Nishikori.

His 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 victory over the ninth seed sets up a fourth-round clash with Croatia’s Marin Cilic who beat the American Steve Johnson in straight sets.