Rafael Nadal knew he was dealt a tough draw in the form of Alexander Zverev in the third round. The match itself turned out to be even tougher.
Nadal twice battled back from set deficits to outlast the 19-year-old German 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday afternoon. The ninth-ranked Spaniard withstood 58 winners off the Zverev racket, finished with nine more winners than errors himself, and advanced to the last 16 after four hours and five minutes of play.
“It’s obviously an important result for me,” Nadal commented. “So it’s important for me to win a match like this, having been down two sets to one. I’m very happy.”
“I’m disappointed, but I know that this was a great match,” Zverev explained. “That was a great fight. There are a lot of positives in this match. I think he’s probably one of the fittest tennis players in the history of the game. There are a few things here and there I could do better. All in one, I think I’m pretty happy with my performance.”
If Zverev is happy, Denis Istomin has to positively thrilled with how his Australian Open has progressed. Two days after stunning Novak Djokovic in five sets, the Uzbek backed it up with another five-set triumph–this time 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 over Pablo Carreno Busta.
“It mentally was tough because after beating Novak, I mean, [Pablo] is also a great player,” Istomin explained. “After beating Novak, I don’t want to lose like three sets in a row and then everybody saying that I was dead. I recovered well. I was ready for the match…. In the end I’m happy to win.”
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