Rafael Nadal fights back to defeat Alexander Zverev at Australian Open
Sunday 22 January 2017 11:11, UK
Rafael Nadal staged a superb recovery to overcome a spirited challenge from 19-year-old Alexander Zverev in a five-set thriller to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open on Saturday.
The Spaniard fought back to down one of the hottest prospects in the game, 4-6 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-2 in four hours and six minutes of high-quality tennis.
Nadal, the 2009 champion in Melbourne, needed to be at his resilient best to win a thrill-a-minute match containing quality shot-making and lung-busting rallies which earned both players a huge ovation from the Rod Laver Arena crowd.
Asked how he won, Nadal said: "By fighting. And by running a lot. I think everybody knows how good Alexander now is.
"He is the future of our sport and the present too. It was a tough match for me, I was not playing my best and not feeling well because I was losing too much court.
"Then I changed the dynamic in the third, I was feeling better (and) I had more time to control the points from the baseline.
"After losing the tie-break, I said, 'I need to fight for every point. Forget the result'. And that's what I did."
It was Nadal's 18th win in 26 five-set matches and set him up for a crack at sixth-seed Gael Monfils after the French showman beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 7-6 (7-1) 6-4.
Zverev showed in spades why many consider him a future major champion but was unable to stay with Nadal when he suffered from cramp in both legs in a gripping deciding set. The 30-year-old Nadal sealed victory when the 24th seed netted a tired forehand.
Elsewhere, 117th-ranked giant-killer Denis Istomin built on his incredible win over Novak Djokovic by beating Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4 4-6 6-4 4-6 6-2 to reach the last 16 for the first time.
But he said his mother, Klaudiya, who is his coach, was hardly jumping for joy. "Said again, 'Great job'," Istomin smiled, when asked to describe her reaction, adding that he may have to lift the trophy on January 29 to get his mum excited. "Maybe if I win Australian Open, maybe she will. But I'm not sure," he said.
Istomin will next face Grigor Dimitrov after the Bulgarian produced a fine display to defeat Richard Gasquet in the final match of the day.
The 15th seed won the tournament in Brisbane earlier this year and he has continued his good form in Melbourne, powering past Gasquet 6-3 6-2 6-4 to reach the last 16.
David Goffin halted towering Croatian Ivo Karlovic, who won a tournament-record 84-game match in the first round, to set up a clash against Austrian eighth seed Dominic Thiem.
"I was ready to fight until midnight if I had to," grinned the Belgian.
Roberto Bautista Agut ousted fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 7-5 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 and will next play third seed and last year's semi-finalist Milos Raonic after he proved too powerful for dogged Frenchman Gilles Simon, winning 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-3.
Wimbledon runner-up Raonic said he had spent a difficult previous 48 hours with a bug that laid him low.
"I had a rough last 48 hours. But I got my energy up today much more," he said. "I had a bad fever. I didn't come to the stadium yesterday. I just slept pretty much all day. Everything was aching."
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