Rafael Nadal
threw a blanket over the fire of
Fabio Fognini
to cruise into the quarter-finals of the
Australian Open
with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win on Monday.
Facing the man who dumped him from the 2015 US Open, second seed Nadal held steady against the fierce hitting of the flamboyant Italian and counter-punched brilliantly to avoid a longer scrap at a sunbathed
Rod Laver Arena
.
The score suggested otherwise, but it was a quality two-hour 16-minute workout for Nadal, who had to rally from 4-2 down in the second set to put the match on his terms.
When you reach your 4️⃣3️⃣rd Grand Slam quarterfinal 🙌@RafaelNadal | #AO2021 | #AusOpen https://t.co/59xQYuFCfl
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 1613371710000
From there, the momentum was all the Spaniard’s as Nadal roared through the final set to fix up a clash with either Stefanos Tsitsipas or
Matteo Berrettini
.
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