Nadal cruises past Kuznetsov at U.S. Open, to face five-set master Pouille

Rafael Nadal already has a gold medal from the Rio Olympics this summer in his Mallorca museum. Now he is playing like he wants some more hardware.

Nadal continued his unscathed trek through the U.S. Open by thrashing Andrey Kuznetsov 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in the third round on Friday night. The former world No. 1, who also defeated Denis Istomin and Andreas Seppi without even requiring one tiebreaker, needed two hours and 16 minutes to advance.

Thus Nadal has maintained momentum during his comeback from a recent wrist issue that sidelined him in the middle of the French Open. In his first event back, not only did the fifth-ranked Spaniard capture doubles gold with Marc Lopez but he also finished fourth in singles.

Based on Friday’s performance, Nadal appears to want something more than fourth in New York City.

“I think I played well tonight; very happy about the way I played,” the fourth seed assessed. “(The first set especially was (a) very high level…. I don’t know in which kind of level I am (in). (It) is true that when I had to stop I was playing great. I felt myself ready for the French. I don’t know where I am today. (The) only thing I know is I am happy. I am excited to play.”

That sounds like bad news for Lucas Pouille, who will be Nadal’s fourth-round adversary. The head-to-head series stands at 1-0 in favor of Nadal, who rolled 6-2, 6-1 at last season’s Monte-Carlo Masters.

Pouille booked his spot in the fourth round of a second straight Grand Slam (he went all the way to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon) in dramatic fashion. After beating Mikhail Kukushkin in four, the 22-year-old roared past Marco Chiudinelli 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-2, 6-0 and survived Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1. Prior to the French Open, Pouille owned just a single main-draw victory at a slam; he has since picked up eight such wins.

“He is a great player,” Nadal assured. “He is young. He has all the shots: good serve, good forehand, good backhand. He’s a tough opponent. I [practiced] with him a couple of times and I played (against him once). I know he’s able to play (at) a very high level.”

That is exactly what Pouille has done in crucial moments at this U.S. Open. When he surged to a 5-0 lead over Bautista Agut in the decider, the Frenchman was an amazing 11-0 in total fifth-set games (6-0 over Chiudinelli and 5-0 against Bautista Agut). The No. 15 seed finally held for 1-5 in the final frame of play, but Pouille promptly wrapped up the proceedings with an easy hold.

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