Australian Open: Rafael Nadal survives left-handed duel with Cameron Norrie
Rafael Nadal reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open on Saturday. In the duel between two left-handers, the Mallorcan won 7: 5, 6: 2 7: 5. In the round of 16 on Monday, Nadal will face Fabio Fognini, who defeated Alex de Minaur in three sets.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Feb 13, 2021, 01:17 pm
"At the beginning of the match I didn't take all the chances I got. That's why it was tight," said Nadal. "Then it is normal that you have to suffer a little."
Nadal was initially behind, Norrie took the 3-2 serve from him. However, the 20-time Grand Slam champion managed the immediate rebreak, and another to 7: 5. In the second set, Nadal struck in the sixth game when he took Norrie's serve to zero. With four games in a row, he made it 6-2 after 33 minutes.
In the third set the game was briefly interrupted as it began to trickle in Melbourne. Both players were harmless on their own serve, before Nadal benefited in the twelfth game from unforced mistakes by his opponent and converted his first match point after 2:13 hours.
Parallel to this match, Fognini de Minaur struck surprisingly clearly 6: 4, 6: 3, 6: 4. Nadal's record against Fognini is 14-12, 6-1 on hard courts.
More information will follow.