Nadal, Dimitrov march on
MELBOURNE, Australia — After snuffing out local hopes for yet another Australian Open, Grigor Dimitrov huddled with Nick Kyrgios at the net and the pair exchanged encouraging words.
It was Kyrgios, having just lost 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (4) in the fourth round in a typically tempestuous performance, who left No. 3-ranked Dimitrov with this message: “Believe.”
Dimitrov has never won a major, coming closest here last year before losing a semifinal to Rafael Nadal in five sets, but is enhancing his credentials as a next generation champion.
Nadal secured his spot in a 10th Australian Open quarterfinal earlier Sunday on Rod Laver Arena, beating Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3 in 3 hours and 51 minutes.
The 16-time major winner draped an arm around his Argentine friend and patted him on top of the head. If he needed a fitness test in the first week in his comeback from an injured right knee, he got it.
“A great battle … he’s a good friend of mine,” Nadal said. “This is the first big match that I played in 2018. That’s confidence for myself … confidence I can resist for four hours on court at a good intensity.”
Nadal will next play 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, who collected his 100th Grand Slam
match win with a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-6 (0), 7-6 (3) victory over No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta.
“I had the 300th win of my career at the U.S. Open in 2014, so this is also beautiful one,” Cilic said of his latest major milestone. “I hope I’m going to continue and gather three more here.”
Nadal lost last year’s Australian Open final to Roger Federer, but went on to regain the No. 1 ranking and win the French and U.S. Open titles before bringing his season to a premature end because of an injured right knee.
Despite not playing any competitive matches in his Aussie Open preparation, Nadal advanced through three rounds without dropping a set.
That streak finished when Schwartzman took the second set, rebounding three times after dropping serve to break back and win the tiebreaker.
Nadal lifted to win the third, but Schwartzman didn’t relent.
The second game of the fourth set lasted almost 13 minutes, with Nadal finally holding after saving five break points.
He broke again in the next game to regain control. “It was a good test for me. It was a lot of hours on court. Moments under pressure,” Nadal said.