| The Spaniard, champion in Melbourne in 2009, needed to be at his resilient best to come out on top after more than four hours |
Rafa Nadal held off a fierce challenge from one of the hottest prospects in the game when he outlasted German teenager Alexander Zverev 4-6 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 6-2 to reach the last 16 of the Australian Open on Saturday.
The Spaniard, champion here in 2009, needed to be at his resilient best to come out on top after more than four hours of top quality shot-making and thrilling rallies which earned both players a huge ovation from the Rod Laver Arena crowd.
The 19-year-old Zverev showed in spades why many consider him a future grand slam champion but was just unable to stay with the uber-fit 30-year-old in a gripping deciding set.
“Everybody knows how good Alexander is, he’s the future of our sport and the present too,” said Nadal, who reached the fourth round for the 10th time in 12 appearances at Melbourne Park.
“Today was a great battle, I am very happy to be through. It was an important result for me as I’ve lost my last couple of matches in the fifth.”
Returning to Melbourne Park as ninth seed after curtailing his 2016 season because of injury, Nadal will next face Gael Monfils of France as he bids for a 15th grand slam title.
Monfils easily beat Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 7-6 6-4.
While Zverev’s performance reinforced his position in the vanguard of generation next, Nadal confirmed that he is healthy enough to take advantage of the early exit of 2016 champion Novak Djokovic from his half of the draw.
Elsewhere in the men’s draw on Saturday, Milos Raonic’s machine-like advance through the Australian Open suffered a brief glitch against Gilles Simon but the Canadian re-booted to delete the dogged Frenchman 6-2 7-6(5) 3-6 6-3 and reach the fourth round.
Third seed Raonic lost his first set of the tournament and his composure against the indefatigable Simon, whose hard running and passing shots threatened to turn the game on its head at a heaving Hisense Arena.
Raonic drowned out the Gallic cheers by capturing the decisive break in the sixth game of the final set and sealed the match with a big kicking serve that Simon could only parry into the net.
Raonic, a semi-finalist last year, next plays 13th seed Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the quarter-finals.