Rafael Nadal beats Fabio Fognini at Madrid Open
Borna Coric through to Andy Murray showdown
Thursday 11 May 2017 10:33, UK
Rafael Nadal was given a huge scare by Fabio Fognini before eventually coming through a three-set tussle in the third round of the Madrid Open.
The Spaniard was given arguably his toughest clay-court test of the season by the Italian before eventually coming through 7-6 3-6 6-4 in just under three hours.
It remains to be seen how much the win takes out of Nadal who next faces Nick Kyrgios and could still have Milos Raonic and Novak Djokovic to play before any possible final.
Nadal is seeded fifth but is the form-man on tour having claimed titles in Monte Carlo and Barcelona over the last few weeks and after a tough work-out he remains on course for a fifth Madrid crown.
Fognini has three career wins over Nadal and made him work for the victory, the Spaniard saving 10 of 12 break points conceded to the Italian in the first set alone.
Fognini served for the set at 5-4 but was not able to capitalise on his chance as Nadal eventually sealed the tie-break before dropping the second.
Eventually Nadal prevailed in a roller-coaster final set, sealing an 11th successive victory and 30th for the season with his second match point having been broken at 5-4 when serving for the match
Croatia's talented 20-year-old Borna Coric advanced to a fourth career meeting with world No 1 Andy Murray, seeing off French qualifier Pierre Hugues Herbert 7-5 6-4.
Coric, who got into the event as a lucky loser is ranked 59 in the world, has beaten Murray, winning as a teenager in Dubai in 2015 only for Murray to gain revenge in Paris later that year and losing just three games in the process.
Murray's seeded semi-final opponent is out, world number three Stan Wawrinka was beaten in three sets by France's Benoit Paire 7-5 4-6 6-2.
Also in Murray's quarter, Grigor Dimitrov overcame the formidable serve of Ivo Karlovic, beating the veteran Croatian 6-3 7-5 to advance to set up an intriguing clash with Dominic Thiem in the third round.
11th seed Tomas Berdych remained on course for an eighth successive Madrid quarter-final, the Czech was runner-up at the Caja Magica in 2012, losing in three sets to Roger Federer.
He had little trouble against big-serving Dutchman Robin Haase, coming through 7-6 6-3 to set up a last 16 showdown with Alexander Zverev who beat Marin Cilic in a battle between two of last week's champions.
BMW Open winner Zverev emerged triumphant, battling back from a set down to beat Istanbul Open champion and seventh seed Marin Cilic in impressive fashion.
The Croatian edged a nervy first set thanks to a dominant display in the tie-break, but 20-year-old Zverev showed resilience as well as as his undoubted quality to win through 6-7 6-3 6-4.
Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori was forced to come from a set down to beat Diego Schwartzman from Argentina 1-6 6-0 6-4.
All six of Pablo Cuevas' singles titles have come on clay, including Sao Paolo earlier this year and he has two Masters quarter-finals under his belt already this year.
He reached the last eight in Monte Carlo, beating Stan Wawrinka in the third round and he came a set down to beat France's Nicolas Mahut 5-7 6-4 6-4 and set up a showdown with Paire after the Frenchman's surprise three-set win over Wawrinka.
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