Nadal reaches Aussie quarters
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — Rafael Nadal finally got the better of a crazy, long tiebreaker and knew he’d won half the battle.
After saving four set points and missing with the first six of his own, Nadal finally clinched a tiebreaker that lasted 28 minutes and 40 seconds to set himself on course to secure a spot in the Australian Open quarterfinals for a 14th time.
After his 7-6 (14), 6-2, 6-2 fourth-round victory over fellow left-hander Adrian Mannarino on Sunday, Nadal is potentially just three wins away from a men’s record 21st Grand Slam singles title.
He later reflected on a tiebreaker where momentum swung wildly; where chants of “Let’s go Rafa, Let’s go!” rang out; where a point was decided on a 25-shot rally with both players scrambling at full stretch; and that ended only when Nadal volleyed from deep in the court and Mannarino’s reflex reply skewed wide.
“Well, you know, I played a couple,” he said, smiling, in reference to long tiebreakers. “But, yeah, (it was) a crazy one, chances for both. And, yeah, lucky to win that tiebreak at the end, no?
“Half of the match in the tiebreak, without a doubt.”
Nadal will next play Denis Shapovalov, the 22-year-old Canadian who finished off a 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev on Margaret Court Arena less than an hour later to reach the last eight in Australia for the first time.
Shapovalov had to isolate after testing positive for COVID-19 when he arrived in Australia ahead of the year’s first major, but recovered quickly to help Canada win the ATP Cup in Sydney and now reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the third time.
Women’s No. 1 Ash Barty advanced to the quarterfinals for the fourth straight year when she beat 20-yearold American Amanda Anisimova 6-4, 6-3.
Barty is aiming to be the first
Australian woman to win her home Grand Slam title since 1978 and has gone through the first four rounds without dropping a set.
Anisimova, coming off a third-round upset over defending champion Naomi Osaka, broke Barty’s opening service game of the second set — a first for the tournament — but the two-time major winner responded by taking six of the last seven games.
Barty beat Anisimova in the semifinals of the French Open in 2019 on the way to winning her first Grand Slam title and won her second at Wimbledon last year.
She’ll next play No. 21-seeded Jessica Pegula, who beat fifth-seeded Maria Sakkari 7-6 (0), 6-3.
French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova breezed to a 6-2, 6-2 win over two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka and is into the last eight for the third time in four Grand Slam events.
Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini completed a Grand Slam set with a 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over 19th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta in the last match on Day 7.