Spanish, twenty-time Grand Slam champion, is looking for a 21st title that would place him alone with the record for wins in major tournaments.
The Spaniard Rafael Nadal, the sixth player in the world at the moment, took another step towards his goal of winning his second Open de Australia, by overcoming the round of 16 this Sunday, while his compatriots Pablo Carreno Y Paula Badosa They were eliminated in that instance.
the canadian Denis Shapovalov, fourteenth in the ATP ranking, gave the surprise by defeating the third world player, the German Alexander Zverev, one of the candidates for the title, and will be Nadal’s rival in the quarterfinals, who easily beat the Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
Nadal, twenty times champion of Grand Slam, who is looking for a 21st title that would place him alone with the record for wins in major tournaments, only struggled in the first set, in which he had to play a 28-minute tie-break, to win 7-6 (16/ 14), 6-2 and 6-2.
“The first set was nerve-wracking. I was a bit lucky at the end of the tie-break”, said Nadal about his match against Mannarino, which lasted 2 hours and 40 minutes.
“I’m so happy I made it through that first set, without a doubt”, adding that having quickly achieved a break in the second set had been “very important”, in the definitive step to victory
But if Nadal responded in the round of 16, the surprise came with the defeat of German Zverev against Shapovalov, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.
The other top-of-the-table quarter-final match will pit the Frenchman Gael Monfils (20th) and Italian Matteo Berrettini (7º).
Monfils took advantage of the absence of Novak Djokovic, who should theoretically be measured in eighths, to beat another Serb, Miomir Kecmanovic (77th), 7-5, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
For his part, Berrettini prevailed in a disputed match against Spanish Pablo Carreno (21st), 7-5, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.
ladies competition
In the women’s draw, the quarterfinal duel between the American Madison Keys (51st) and the Czech Barbora Krejcikova (4th) was not what was expected.
But Keys showed the qualities that made her rise to seventh place in the world in 2016 and to the final of the US Open in 2017 to beat the Spanish Paula Badosa (6th), 6-3, 6-1, while the Czech, winner of the last Roland-Garros, beat the double Belarusian winner of Melbourne, Victoria Azarenka (25th), 6-2, 6-2.
For its part, the world number one, the Australian Ashleigh Barty, exceeded the round of 16 by defeating the American Amanda Anisimova (60th in the world), 6-4, 6-3.
The 25-year-old Australian will attempt to reach the semi-finals on Tuesday against another American, Jessica Pegula (21st), who defeated the Greek Maria Sakkari (8th) by 7-6 (7/0), 6-3.
Results of the day of the Australian Open Tournament:
Men’s Singles (Round of 16):
Gael Monfils (FRA / N ° 17) by Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) 7-5, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3
Matteo Berrettini (ITA/No. 7) to Pablo Carreño (ESP/No. 19) 7-5, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4
Denis Shapovalov (CAN/N° 14) a Alexander Zverev (GER/N° 3) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3
Rafael Nadal (ESP / N ° 6) to Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 7-6 (16/14), 6-2, 6-2
In ladies (round of 16):
Ashleigh Barty (AUS/N°1) defeated Amanda Anisimova (USA) 6-4, 6-3
Jessica Pegula (USA / N ° 21) to Maria Sakkari (GRE / N.5) 7-6 (7/0), 6-3
Barbora Krejcíková (CZE / N ° 4) and Victoria Azarenka (BLR / N.24) 6-2, 6-2
Madison Keys (USA) to Paula Badosa (ESP / No. 8) 6-3, 6-1. (D)
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