Rafael Nadal, 5th in the world, overcame the resistance of Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the first set, before rolling out, winning 7-6 (16/14), 6-2, 6-2 and thus qualifying for the quarters Australian Open finals.
Titled in 2009, Nadal will face the German Alexander Zverev (3rd) or the Canadian Denis Shapovalov (14th) on Tuesday for a place in the semi-finals. Under a blazing sun, Mannarino made life difficult for the Spaniard in the first round, where the two players played at a very high level and which lasted 81 minutes.
At 5-5, the French got a break point saved by his opponent and the two men came to the tie break, which was breathtaking both in terms of the quality of the game and the intensity and suspense.
During this decisive game which lasted 28 minutes, Nadal saved four set points and concluded on his seventh. He had never needed so many points (30) to win a decisive game on the circuit. But, subsequently, the Mannarino dam, perhaps affected in the abdominals, gave way. I
he lost the second set in 39 minutes, then, after deceiving himself by breaking at the very start of the third set to come back to 1-1, he dropped four games in a row. Serving for the win of the match at 5-2, Nadal concluded on his first match point.
The Australian Open is the only Major that Nadal, joint record holder of Grand Slam titles (20) with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, has won only once.
He lived a 2021 season truncated by a foot injury and suffered from a Covid in December but, in the absence of his two main rivals, he is asserting himself lap after lap as a very serious candidate for the title. It would be his 21st Grand Slam, a new record.