- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
World No.2 Rafael Nadal is feeling fit and hoping for a change of luck in the Australian Open quarter-finals, after being struck down by injury in each of the past two years.
The signs are good for the Spanish star, who reached the last eight without dropping a set, after fellow Spanish left-hander Feliciano Lopez became his latest victim, 6-4 6-4 6-2 in the fourth round on Sunday.
But the signs were also good for Nadal last year, when he also won every set he played in the first four rounds, only to pull an adductor muscle early in his quarter-final, which he battled through only for the sake of his Spanish opponent David Ferrer.
A year earlier, a knee injury forced him to withdraw at the quarter-final stage, when he was trailing Scot Andy Murray two sets to love.
They are the only two grand slam events in the past two years in which Nadal, who won the Australian Open in 2009, has not either won or made the final.
“Hopefully (it will) not happen this time,” Nadal said on Sunday.
“No, every year is different. I had a bad experience last two years here. It’s tough to have to go out of a tournament like Australia in quarter-finals.
“In 2010 I retired because I couldn’t continue. Last year I decided not to retire, but I had a problem in the second or third game of the match. So I played one complete match with very bad feelings.”
Nadal entered this year’s Open with another fitness concern, after a freak knee injury in his hotel room on tournament eve made him fear he would have to pull out of the event.
But that fear has now been eased, with the second seed having little trouble during the first four rounds, with his relatively short matches helping his physical condition.
More important to Nadal was his form, with the Spaniard typically brutal and dominant in his dismissal of Lopez, although he said right from the start of the event he had been pleased with how he had played.
“It’s positive winning three sets, yes,” he said.
“The most positive thing is the feeling is positive during all the tournament and (I’m) happy about how I am playing and enjoying the tournament.”
Nadal’s quarter-final opponent, Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych, had a much tougher battle to win his fourth round match with Spanish 10th seed Nicolas Almagro 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2).
Berdych reacted angrily to being warned for receiving coaching during the second set, claiming his coach had been saying only “Come on, let’s go.”
The big-serving Czech dominated each of the three tiebreakers against his smaller opponent, who was treated for an injury early in the fourth set.
Berdych was booed ferociously by the Hisense Arena crowd for refusing to shake Almagro’s hand or even look at him post-match.
He took offence when the Spaniard belted the ball into his arm while the Czech was at the net late in the contest and spurned Almagro’s subsequent apology, later saying he believed Almagro aimed at his face.
“When you have a point and somebody wants to hit you right in the face, I don’t see that as a nice moment. That’s what I think. That’s their opinion,” Berdych said of the crowd reaction.
In the day session’s other men’s fourth round match, Argentina’s powerful 11th seed Juan Martin del Potro outclassed unseeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-2 6-1.
The hulking 2009 US Open champion, who is again starting to loom as a contender for grand slam titles after having his career stalled by a wrist injury in 2010, will meet the winner of Sunday night’s clash between Bernard Tomic and Roger Federer in the quarter-finals.
Whether it’s aces or races, try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp for great odds and a great punting experience. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.