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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congrats
That’s might impressive from both guys.
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Congrats to both guys!
Nadal did it great, and I think Zverev will become my new favourite player in 1-2 years.
Zverev is the real deal. I am very impressed with him. He needs to work on his fitness and movement. But he should be contending for slams in a year or two.
I was glad to see Istomin win and back up the upset over Novak. I picked PCB but am happy to be wrong.
So proud of rafa!
Rafa played great! When he has faith in his body, he is not afraid.
Hope his body holds up and he wins AO and RG. I hope he wins RG at least. After that I will be happy just to see him play and if he wins more slams, that would be the icing on the cake.
Well said Mary, I would also like Rafa to win “La decima” if only to say that he was able to make a comeback, much like Agasi did, my second favorite player of all time after Rafa.
Nadal did well. Although, still there is much to do. With some luck, he could reach the finals.