Rafael Nadal progressed to the Australian Open quarter-finals with a straight-set win over Adrian Mannarino as the Spaniard continues his quest for a record-breaking 21st major title.
Nadal, 35, edged an epic 28-minute first-set tie-break as he eventually converted his seventh set point.
“I was a little bit lucky at the end of the tiebreaker, I had my chances but then he had a lot of chances too,” Nadal said.
Delivering in the crucial moments.
You can always count on @rafaelnadal ?@Kia_Worldwide · #Kia · #MovementThatInspires@wwos · @espn · @Eurosport · @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/kNyxwGO8ST
“That crazy first set was so important and the service break at the beginning of the second set too.
“He had been playing some fantastic tennis during the whole tournament, winning against amazing players. The first set was super difficult.
“His ball was very difficult to control, very flat, very fast and I am happy I survived that.”
Mannarino struggled with injury after the tie-break, as sixth seed Nadal went on to claim a 7-6 (16-14) 6-2 6-2 win.
Nadal next plays Denis Shapovalov, who beat third seed Alexander Zverev.
Canadian 14th seed Shapovalov, 22, reached his first Australian Open quarter-final with an impressive 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 victory over Germany’s Olympic champion.
The exit of the 24-year-old Zverev, a 2020 semi-finalist, leaves Nadal as the highest ranked player remaining in the top half of the men’s singles draw.