Rafael Nadal admits he was ‘happy to survive’ as he moves into Australian Open quarter-finals
Rafael Nadal said he was ‘happy to survive’ his Australian Open fourth round clash against Adrian Mannarino.
The 20-time major winner had to come through an absolutely epic first-set tiebreak against the Frenchman, eventually winning it 16-14 after spurning a flurry of set-points.
After that, though, it was plain-sailing for Nadal, who round out a 7-6, 6-2, 6-2 win to book a quarter-final clash with Denis Shapovalov – the man who downed Alexander Zverev in straight sets.
Nadal, though, admitted it was his toughest test of the competition so far and he felt he had the luck on his side in crucial moments.
“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,” Rafael Nadal said.
“That crazy first set was so important and the service break at the beginning of the second set too.
All the right angles from @AdrianMannarino ?#AusOpen · #AO2022
?: @wwos · @espn · @Eurosport · @wowowtennis pic.twitter.com/RDvWRR6HMA— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 23, 2022
“He had been playing some fantastic tennis during the whole tournament, winning against amazing players, and today the first set was super difficult.
“His ball was very difficult to control, very flat, very fast and I am very happy that I survived that.”
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