Nadal Survives Zverev In Melbourne

Rafael Nadal survived a marathon third-round battle against Alexander Zverev on Saturday at the Australian Open in Melbourne, coming through with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 win on Rod Laver Arena.

“It’s obviously an important result for me,” said Nadal, who had lost his past three five-set contests in Grand Slam action. “So it’s important for me to win a match like this, having been down two sets to one. I’m very happy.”

A single break of serve was all that was needed in each of the first two sets. Neither player faced a break point in the third set, ultimately forcing a critical tie-break. Nadal gave the crucial mini-break to Zverev with a forehand error at 5/5, and the German took advantage by hitting a backhand winner on set point to earn a commanding lead.

But Nadal refused to go away. He raced out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth set and appeared to finally wear down Zverev with the long baseline rallies that highlighted the match. The young German hit 12 winners to 16 unforced errors in the fourth set while Nadal shored up his game considerably, holding onto the lead to force a deciding set.

The final stages of the match ultimately came down to fitness, with Zverev appearing to cramp at 2-2 in the fifth set. Sensing his opportunity, Nadal sprinted through the final four games of the match to prevail in four hours and five minutes.

Nadal improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Zverev to 2-0, having last defeated the German at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells in 2016, saving a match point.

“It was a tough match,” reflected Nadal. “He’s a player that has an amazing potential. He is able to produce great shots. He’s already one of the best players in the world. He can be even better. He can be fighting for the most important things. So I think he will do it.

“For the confidence, for lot of things, it is very important to win these kind of matches. I worked a lot during all of December to have the chances to compete well in these kind of moments. Even if I started the match with some nerves, I think I was able to came back well.

“Mentally I have been very positive during the whole match. In terms of physical performance, I felt great, ready for run for every ball. In terms of level of tennis, I think I finished the match playing much better than how I started the match. That’s a very important thing.”

Nadal goes on to face sixth seed Gael Monfils, who recorded a 6-3, 7-6(1), 6-4 victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber in just under two hours. Monfils has dropped only one set in reaching the last 16 and will look to overturn a 2-12 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Nadal when the pair meets on Monday. Monfils’ last victory over Nadal came five years ago in Doha.

The 30-year-old Monfils is looking to reach a second successive Grand Slam quarter-final, after making the semi-finals at the US Open in New York, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.