‘I’m happy that I survived,’ Rafael Nadal sees off INSANE 28-minute tie-breaker against Adrian Mannarino to reach his 14th Australian Open Quarterfinal
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Rafael Nadal
20-time grand slam champion Rafael Nadal produced yet another masterclass to make it to the quarterfinal of the Australian Open for the 14th time. The 6th seed defeated Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in three sets 7-6(14),6-2,6-2 on the Rod Laver Arena. With this win, Nadal has kept his 100% match winning record in 2022 intact.
Nadal has now reached a grand slam quarterfinal 44 times and has made it to the last 8 of every slam he has played since US Open 2017. Against Mannarino too, Nadal looked solid throughout the match.
The match started with incredible intensity and the first set was one of the best played sets in recent times. Both players kept their game clean and were holding serve nicely. The set eventually went into the tie breaker were Mannarino took an early mini break. He even had a 4-2 lead until Nadal levelled things up on serve.
Some stunning display of forehand winners and keeping their head cool meant that the both players had multiple set points. The tie break was played for over 28 minutes with Nadal eventually winning it 16-14!
Mannarino matched Nadal from the baseline in the first set but was out if gas in the second set. He seemed bothered by his groin and even got treatment in the second set. Nadal got an early break and was dominating the rallies. He eventually won the set 6-2. The Frenchman tried his best to get past Nadal defense but his restricted movement wouldn’t allow him to do it. Nadal, with two decisive breaks wrapped up the third set 6-2.
‘Sometimes I wasn’t lucky because my opponents were better than me’: Nadal
In the on court interview, Nadal spoke about the intense first set and said that he was very high on emotion and praised Mannarino for playing at his best.
“First set was very very emotional and anything could’ve happened there. I was a little bit lucky towards the end and took my chances but again, he had a lot if chances too. Everyone knows how mental this game is and after that crazy first set, the break in the beginning of the second was very important,” Nadal said.
He said that the Frenchman had played very well all tournament beating some big names and that he’s lucky to survive in the first set.
“He was playing some fantastic tennis all tournament. Winning against amazing players like Karatsev, Hurkacz and today the first set was very difficult- his ball was very difficult to control because it was very fast and flat and I’m happy that I survived that first set without a doubt,” he said.
Nadal further addressed his outing in Melbourne Park over the years. He said that he has been unlucky in general- sometimes with injury, other times because of he quality of his opponents.
“In this tournament, I’ve been in very good position to fight and a lot of times in my career, I’ve always enjoyed playing here. It’s true that I’ve been a little bit unlucky with injuries here during my career and sometimes I wasn’t lucky because my opponents were better than me[laughs]. But in general terms, I always enjoyed emotional matches here. So I’m very very happy to be back in quarterfinal and it means a lot to me. I’ll try my best!” Nadal added.
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