Australian Open: Nadal resists Mannarino’s initial strength and is three victories away from his twenty-first major

I won 7-6 (14), 6-2 and 6-2. The Frenchman, who had four balls to take the first set, was clearly outplayed afterwards. Play this Tuesday in the quarterfinals against Denis Shapovalov

Yes, it was imaginable, because when it comes to who it is, any challenge is possible, but there is something revealing again in the fact that Rafael Nadal, after five months without competing due to a chronic left foot injury, is in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. The Spaniard pulled off a very tough tiebreaker in the first set and walked steadily towards victory against Adrian Mannarino, who was beaten 7-6 (14), 6-2, 6-2, in two hours and 40 minutes, and is three games away from winning his twenty-first Grand Slam title and breaking the tie with Roger Federer Y Novak Djokovic. None of them, each one for known reasons, is already in competition, and today the sixth seed, number five in the world and the only champion present in the tournament, has every right to dream of the fight that awaits him with the coming generation. It will be measured this Tuesday, almost certainly in the Spanish morning, against the Canadian Denis Shapovalov, which super in three sets a Alexander Zverev, third seeded.

The French brought good credit in his surprising passage through the tournament, after leaving on his way to Herbert Hurkacz, tenth favorite, and Aslan Karatsev, semi-finalist last year. A 33-year-old left-hander with a good hand, with a long but discreet career, as evidenced by the fact that he has never passed the round of 16 in a big game. In his third match on the day of the tournament, under more than 30 degrees of temperature, in the conditions that he likes the most, Nadal, who had surpassed Marcos Giron, Yannick Hanfmann Y Karen Khachanov, before whom the only set was left, took time to find a way to destabilize him.

Mannarino had his first break ball in the eleventh game, replicated by the player from Manacor with a winning serve. The game involved more difficulties than expected. Nadal lacked depth in the drive and his opponent played comfortably, also pushed by the freshness that allows him to go out on the field without too many responsibilities.

exciting tiebreaker

A great passing shot Spaniard’s backhand cross seemed to seal the fate of the tiebreaker in the first set. But there was still a lot to play for. It was 28 minutes of tie break until Nadal, who added 16 aces in the match, made it his own at the seventh ball of the set, 16-14, after Mannarino had four. It was the longest tiebreaker of his career. Tactically and emotionally, Nadal played it better, bringing out his slice backhand at critical moments. An hour and 21 minutes lasted the first set.

The resolution had immediate consequences. Nadal, recent champion at the ATP 250 in Melbourne, broke for the first time in the match at the beginning of the second and began to better read his opponent’s open serves, which had done him a lot of damage during the previous set. Gone was the Mannarino in its state of maximum tennis purity, the player of swing very short, capable of improvising shots that are not often seen on the circuit.

His physical problems did the rest. He showed signs of them during the intense tiebreaker, with grimaces of pain in his groin. He was treated by the physiotherapist, without the fine touch with the ball, unable to assimilate the blow of a first set where the options he might have to surprise a rival who had defeated him in his two previous duels passed, neither of them at Grand Slams.

Touched in his spirits and physique, the Frenchman, 69 in the world, with only one title in his career, Hertogenbosch, in 2019, decided to finish the match, even knowing that all doors were closed. He offered no further opposition. There are 21 consecutive victories achieved by Nadal against left-handers, in which he could supposedly find an added difficulty when dealing with opponents to whom that analogy unites him. The last to defeat him was precisely Shapovalov, five years ago, at the Masters 1000 in Montreal.

“The first set was very exciting. Anything could have happened. I was a bit lucky. I am very happy to have survived that first set, no doubt. He has played fantastic, with his very flat shots,” the winner told track footing.