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What's the story?
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal secured his berth in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open 2020 with a resounding four-set win against Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round. The Aussie gave the Spaniard a run for his money by winning the second set however, Nadal bounced back in style to win the match 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6.
The background
The King of Clay, Rafael Nadal kicked off his Australian Open campaign with dominant performances against Hugo Dellien and Federico Delbonis in the first two rounds. He later sent his compatriot, Pablo Carreno Busta packing in the third round to setup a battle with Australia's own, Nick Kyrgios in the round of 16.
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The 23rd seeded player had the momentum by his side because of a phenomenal five-set win over Karen Khachanov in the previous round. Hence, the home fans expected him to give a tough fight to Nadal.
The heart of the matter
Nick Kyrgios had troubled the left-handed Spaniard in the past however, Nadal began this match on a high with a 6-3 win in the first set. The hometown lad won the second set and stretched the next two sets into a tiebreaker but could not win either of them. Kyrgios fired 25 aces in this match as compared to Nadal's 12 but the world number 1's 73% win on 2nd serve made the difference in this match.
The third set's tiebreaker ended 8-6 in Nadal's favor while he won the final set with a scoreline of 7-4 in the tiebreaker.
What's next?
With this victory, Nadal has progressed to the final eight of the Australian Open. He will now face fifth seed Dominic Thiem in the quarter-final. The Austrian star has a 4-9 head-to-head record against Rafael Nadal.
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