Rafael Nadal advances to 4th round of Australian Open
Originally published January 18, 2014 at 7:13 PM | Page modified January 18, 2014 at 7:22 PM
Clive Brunskill / Getty Images
MELBOURNE, Australia - Rafael Nadal of Spain made it abundantly clear how much he missed the last Australian Open with the manner of his third-round demolition of Gael Monfils of France.
Top-seeded Nadal trounced No. 25 Monfils 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 Saturday at Rod Laver Arena, then told the crowd it was 'very emotional to have the chance to play that well here in Australia after missing last year.'
Nadal skipped the tournament in 2013 during a seven-month layoff for illness and injuries, depriving him a chance to pick up two full sets of the Grand Slam titles.
Nadal returned to win the French and U.S. Open crowns and regained the year-end No. 1 ranking. The Australian Open is the only major Nadal has not won at least twice, with his sole triumph at Melbourne Park in 2009. The Spaniard lost an epic five-set final to Novak Djokovic of Serbia two years ago.
Nadal broke Monfils' serve in the first game and then fended off three break points before holding in the next. He conceded one point on serve in the second set and, apart from a slight stumble that caused him to hobble around momentarily, he didn't have any trouble advancing. Nadal next plays No. 16 Kei Nishikori of Japan, who ended the U.S. run in the men's draw with a comfortable victory over Donald Young.
'Very happy the way that I played against a very tough opponent like Gael,' said Nadal, giving himself high marks for the performance. 'So that makes the level that I played tonight better because it was against a tough opponent.
'That makes me feel confident, but I am in fourth round. That's all.'
There were other lopsided matches at Rod Laver Arena, with two-time women's defending champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus routing Yvonne Meusburger of Austria 6-1, 6-1 to set up an Australian Open rematch with American Sloane Stephens.
Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, who is two tournaments into a return from minor back surgery in September, posted a 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 26 Feliciano Lopez of Spain.
'I've recovered well after the matches,' the fourth-seeded Murray said. 'From time to time a bit of stiffness and soreness, but for the most part it's been good.'
Meanwhile, Flavia Pennetta's late-career revival continued as the Italian reached her first Australian Open quarterfinal with a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 victory over ninth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany.
The 28th-seeded Pennetta, who turns 32 next month, has played some of her best tennis since returning last February from a wrist injury that caused her ranking to drop as low as No. 166 in the world.
Pennetta reached her first Grand Slam tournament semifinal at the U.S. Open last year.
'I'm a little old, so I'm starting to enjoy (tennis) more,' she said. 'When you are young, you want to win so much.'
Pennetta broke Kerber to take a 5-3 lead in the third set but tightened up as she was serving for the match, giving the break right back. She recovered to take a 6-5 lead and broke Kerber to close out the match.
Kerber was also bidding for her first quarterfinal at the Australian Open. She hasn't been past the fourth round of a Grand Slam event since reaching the Wimbledon semifinals in 2012.
Pennetta next plays the winner of the match between two-time finalist Li Na of China and Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.
Five-time champion Serena Williams of the United States was to face former No. 1-ranked Ana Ivanovic of Serbia in a fourth-round match.
Williams will set a record by playing her 70th match at Melbourne Park, surpassing Lindsay Davenport's former record of 69.
After Williams' match, three-time defending champion Djokovic was to take on Italian Fabio Fognini for a place in the quarterfinals.
Post a Comment for "Rafael Nadal advances to 4th round of Australian Open"