Australian Open Day 6 men’s wrap: Rafael Nadal win sets up clash with Nick Kyrgios
World No.1 Rafael Nadal cruised into the fourth round before giving Nick Kyrgios a serve, while Aussie Alexei Popyrin crashed out after going down to fourth seed Daniil Medvedev. MEN’S WRAP
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Rafael Nadal has lit the fuse for an explosive potential fourth-round Australian Open showdown with Nick Kyrgios, admitting he is not a fan of the Canberra firebrand’s behaviour.
“It’s clear, of course, that when he does stuff that in my opinion is not good, I don’t like,” Nadal said after steaming into Melbourne Park’s fourth round.
“When he plays good tennis and he shows passion for this game, he is a positive player for our tour, and I want my tour bigger, not smaller.
“So the players who make the tour bigger are important for the tour.
“When he’s ready to play his best tennis and play with passion, is one of these guys.
“When he’s doing the other stuff, of course I don’t like.”
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Nadal thundered into round of 16 by demolishing fellow Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.
Merciless from the outset, world No. 1 Nadal needed just 98 minutes to notch an untroubled 6-1 6-2 6-4 triumph on Rod Laver Arena.
“It was my best match of the tournament so far, without a doubt,”the 2009 Melbourne Park champion beamed.
“Big difference between today and the previous days.
“I have been serving well, starting to create damage with the forehand. Hitting serve on one shot, I think.
“I feel very sorry for Pablo, he’s a friend of mine.
“Great news for me, though, in the fourth round.
“Today, I did some very good serves and then forehands down the line. That is a key shot for me.”
Nadal revealed he sat up watching Roger Federer’s five-set cliffhanger with John Millman, unable to stop watching the match.
“I saw until 1 o’clock. It was impossible not to watch at the end,” the reigning French and US Open champion said.
“It was a very emotional match.
“He’s (Millman) a fighter, no? It seems he never stops running. He always has a smile on his face. It’s a great attitude.”
Nadal rejected criticism of Millman, amid accusations the Queenslander choked.
“I don’t want to analyse the match for the last six points, honestly,” he said.
“Has been a good match for Millman. Roger, I think, played a little bit up and down.
“But in the fifth he started to push when he was (a) break down. I think he started to play very aggressive.
“The last six points, if you analyse the last six points, I think John made couple of mistakes honestly.
“He was not missing balls, and then he missed with his two serves, two long balls.
“With the 8-7, I think Roger did a small slice down the line. Even John had the chance to hit the passing shot with his forehand. Was long, too.
“Anything could happen, but Federer is Federer.”
Posting his 18th consecutive win against Spanish opposition, Nadal could face Kyrgios if the Canberra firebrand topples Russian giant Karen Khachanov.
Nadal and Kyrgios clashed at Wimbledon in July, sharing a pulsating encounter but the world champion wouldn’t be drawn on a preferred opponent.
“Both players are great players,” he said.
“Nick is always excited to (be) playing at home and Karen is a great player.”
-By Leo Schlink
AUSSIE POPYRIN CRASHES OUT
There was, on Rod Laver Arena, a second Australia v Russia showdown in Melbourne Park last night.
Sadly Alexei Popyrin and Daniil Medvedev were always destined to flounder in the shadows of the Nick Kyrgios battle with Karen Khachanov and so it unfolded, the number four seeded Russian coming out on top in a low key encounter 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, in an hour and 42 minutes.
Medvedev, a sometimes tetchy 23-year-old is in pole position of the next generation hoping to crack the men’s top three and the payback for Popyrin will be that at least he now knows the standard to aim for. Medvedev did not put a foot wrong all night and the crowd hoping for a repeat of fantastic Friday 24 hours earlier on the same court were left disappointed.
Medvedev will now face 2014 Australia Open champion Stan Wawrinka on Monday for a place in the last eight after losing in the last 16 to eventual champion Novak Djokovic last year.
“2019 was great, I remember my match with Novak, I was dead for two days afterwards, I couldn’t walk,” he said.
Medvedev and Popyrin met at Wimbledon last year, the Russian triumphant in four sets. Popyrin, ranked 96, has not gone backwards but should take heart for reaching the last 32 for the second year running. He has some excellent groundstrokes and traded blows from the back equally for long spells but eventually, Medvedev was simply too good.
Lots of aces, lots of double faults and lots of unforced errors from the 20-year-old Australian settled the outcome on a night when he never truly looked at ease and never cracked a smile all night until late in the third set.
Medvedev got the job done without fuss, throwing in his impressive jump backhand as often as he could.
He is in Rafael Nadal’s half of the draw and the Spaniard will not relish their likely semi-final showdown next Friday.
Elsewhere, fellow Russian Andrey Rublev - now on a 15 match winning streak - will face the German with the Russian roots, Alexander Zverev, also on Monday.
Medvedev is mindful of the Russian resurgence, Rublev is ranked 16 and Khachanov 17.
“I was keeping an eye on the Kyrgios/Khachanov score during (my) match,” he said.
- By Richard Evans
ZVEREV WIN GIVES $10K TO BUSHFIRE RELIEF
Alexander Zverev is back in the fourth round at the Australian Open after beating 36-year-old Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, and it means another $10,000 to the bushfire relief effort in Australia.
The 22-year-old German player has pledged $10,000 for every match win at the Australian Open, and his entire prize money if he wins the title at Melbourne Park this year. His best run at a major to date is to the quarterfinals at the French Open.
The seventh-seeded Zverev won the last four games after going down a break in the third set against Verdasco, who was contesting his 67th consecutive Grand Slam tournament -- the second-longest streak for men behind Feliciano Lopez (72).
Verdasco’s best run at a major was to the semifinals in 2009, when he lost to Rafael Nadal in the second-longest match in Australian Open history that lasted 5 hours and 14 minutes.
WAWRINKA MOVES ON AS ISNER RETIRES
Three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka has moved into the fourth round at Melbourne Park after 19th-seeded American John Isner stopped playing in the second set.
Wawrinka led 6-4, 4-1 when Isner was visited by a trainer at a changeover and then retired from the match.
Wawrinka won the Australian Open in 2014 for his first Grand Slam title. This is his seventh trip to the round of 16 in Melbourne and first since 2017.
GAEL MONFILS CONTINUES ERNESTS GULBIS WIN STREAK
Gael Monfils has advanced to the fourth round with a 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-3 win over qualifier Ernests Gulbis.
The 33-year-old Frenchman reached the second week at Melbourne Park for the fourth time, and first since 2017.
Monfils has beaten the No. 256-ranked Gulbis all three times they have met on tour, including in the second round of the 2013 French Open. Before coming to Melbourne, Monfils represented France at the ATP Cup. He beat Chile’s Cristian Garin in singles but lost to Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the eventual champions
AUSTRIAN THIEM BEATS AMERICAN RIVAL
Fifth-seeded Dominic Thiem had a much easier time in his third-round match than his second and beat Taylor Fritz 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4 to advance to the second week at Melbourne Park.
Fritz double-faulted on match point.
Two days ago the Austrian player needed five sets to beat Australian wildcard entry Alex Bolt.
It is the third time that Thiem has beaten the American at a Grand Slam tournament. He beat Fritz in four sets in the second round of the 2017 U.S. Open and again in the third round at Flushing Meadows a year later. Thiem will next play Gael Monfils, who earlier beat Ernests Gulbis in straight sets.
YOUNG GUN RUBLEV CONTINUES HOT STREAK
The 22-year-old rising star Andrey Rublev knocked out Belgian 11th seed David Goffin 2-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 7-6 (7-4) with an accomplished performance on Saturday on Melbourne Arena.
After tournament wins in Doha and Adelaide to start the year, Rublev’s hot-form has the potential to cause further havoc at Melbourne Park.
But the 17th seed is staying level-headed, with his best result at a major being a quarter-final appearance at the 2017 US Open.
“To be honest, I was not even thinking about it, how many matches I win, how many matches I lose,” he said.
“It’s more in the media. Then you start to think, ‘wow, I won 10 matches’. “Of course, it’s amazing that I win that many matches in a row.” Rublev will play fellow young gun Alexander Zverev or Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco in the fourth round.