Rafa Nadal reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open after beating Adrian Mannarino in three sets (7-6, 6-2, 6-2). The possibility of becoming the first tennis player to win 21 Grand Slams is very close, as close as three victories in Melbourne. The first must arrive this Tuesday, against Denis Shapovalov, number 14 in the ATP, and executioner in the round of 16 of one of the great favorites, Alexander Zverev. Historically it is his ‘key’ round, overcoming it ‘throws’ him to the final.
«I said that a priori I was not a candidate and I added that in sport things change very quickly. I am in a better position than I was 10 days ago”, Rafa Nadal explained about his chances of being crowned in Melbourne, during the press conference after his victory against Adrian Mannarino. The man from Manacor acknowledges that he does not know if he feels “prepared to win the title”, but, for now, what has been seen on the track after this first week of competition invites us to be optimistic.
Nadal traveled to Australia as soon as he could to prepare for the Grand Slam, a tournament in which his great ambition given the circumstances – he returned after four months away due to his foot injury, plus his positive for COVID-, was to feel competitive again. The Spaniard regained confidence with the title at the ATP 250 in Melbourne and has been going from less to more in his first week at the Australian Open. Against Khachanov, in the third round, he raised the bar and against Mannarino, in the quarters, he won a tough fight in a very long tiebreak (7-6 (12)). «It was one of the craziest tiebreaks of my career. It has been half of the match, without any doubt,” Nadal said.
An open box to the end
In the quarterfinals, Rafa Nadal will face Denis Shapovalov, fourteenth seeded. The Canadian is one of those young talents on the circuit, left-handed like the Balearic, and who arrives full of confidence after winning the ATP Cup with his country and beating one of the contenders for the title, Alexander Zverev, in three sets. “He is one of the players with the most potential on the circuit. The first time we played I said I was going to be the winner of several ‘Grand Slam’ titles and I still think so. It has a lot of amazing stuff. If he plays well it is difficult to stop, ”Nadal said about his next rival.
Complicated rival but who has already won three of the four times they have been measured on the official circuit. The last time they met was at the exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi, in December, with victory for the Canadian. A result to which Shapovalov himself does not give much importance. “It is an honor to play against him. We recently played in an exhibition but it wasn’t the same. It will be very hard but I hope to enjoy it”, said the Canadian.
If he beats Denis Shapovalov, on Nadal’s side, the rival with the highest ranking he could face in the semifinals is Matteo Berrettini, seventh seed, or Pablo Carreño -the Italian’s rival in the second round- or Monfils, 19th and 17th. seeded, respectively. Only in the final could he meet one of the top four on the circuit, Daniil Medvedev or Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The quarterfinals, their key round
A tough opponent awaits Rafa Nadal in the quarterfinals. Denis Shapovalov, Alexander Zverev’s round of 16 executioner, will challenge the Spaniard in one of the most complicated rounds for the Spaniard traditionally. Throughout his career, Nadal has reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in a total of 13 editions. Of them, he has fallen seven times. Of the six that he did overcome, only in one did he not reach the final (2008).
