Spanish Rafael Nadal, world number one, went to the quarterfinals at the United States Open this Sunday by winning in four sets against Georgian Kikoloz Basilashvili, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (6) and 6 -4, and his next rival will be Austrian Dominic Thiem, number 9 in the ATP.
In a great Sunday atmosphere on Flushing Meadows center court, Arthur Ashe Stadium, Nadal played a very solid game, taking advantage of the opponent’s mistakes and making very few concessions. Only the third set was complicated for him, which he lost in the ‘tie break’.
In addition, there was no sign of Nadal’s knee discomfort from last Friday’s game, in his tough duel against Russia’s Karen Kchachanov.
The first games of the first set already predicted a competitive duel, above all because of the confidence that the Georgian demonstrated in the face of Nadal’s forcefulness.
However, with a 4-3, Basilashvili was not precise and with the sun in his face he gave up his first serve, which Nadal took advantage of until he remained firm and won the first set by 6-3 by not wasting the first of the two balls. of set he had.
The Georgian lowered his guard and Nadal broke his serve as soon as the second set started, and the world number one put the ground in between with a 2-0 that would end in a new 6-3.
Nadal was solvent in his serve and came up to the net several times to finish the set, while taking advantage of not forcing when the Georgian had the initiative. He managed his forces in a tournament of great wear and tear due to high temperatures.
The third set was the most difficult for the Spaniard because the Georgian did not want to leave Flushing Meadows in any way, especially because his tennis it was good, with a big winning backhand and a lot of power; he lost many points due to millimeter errors.
Nadal did not start well and lost the serve, although he quickly recovered it again. The Spaniard moved Basilashvili from side to side, but he was reluctant to leave the ‘US Open’, so the set was put at 6-5 with a serve from the Georgian.
The Spaniard, very focused at all times, knew that this was a good time to accelerate. But the Georgian did not give his arm to twist and forced the ‘tie break’, which Nadal finally lost 6-8 after wasting a match ball.
That was a key moment, those in which morale drops. However, Nadal quickly overcame a Georgian who was increasingly fused – he squatted on more than one occasion to rest – due to the high humidity that reigned in Corona Park.
The number one got serious and broke Basilashvili’s serve as soon as the fourth began and, ultimately, the last set. A 2-0 that foreshadowed that the lost set would be a scare for Nadal.
Still, Basilashvili’s series of winning setbacks led Nadal to have to throw the rest and have to overcome several balls of ‘break’ from the Georgian, who kept forcing the machine not to say goodbye to New York. The 3-1 in favor of Nadal was very worked.
So much so that Nadal suffered again and Basilashvili broke his serve to a level 3-3. A set that looked comfortable for the Spanish got complicated again.
Nadal took his usual race and it was he who in the next game broke Basilashvili’s serve, reaching a 4-3 and then a 5-3 that psychologically finally defeated a fierce Georgian, who gave up the match with a final set of great tennis with a 6-4 and a match point for Nadal with one of his seven ‘aces’.
In a couple of days, the world number one will face Austrian Dominic Thiem, ninth in the ATP rankings, who today defeated South African Kevin Anderson in three sets. EFE