Rafael Nadal makes 16th consecutive quarterfinal at Grand Slams 

Rafael Nadal registered another straight-sets win as he beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(6) in two hours and 21 minutes to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. The Spaniard's Grand Slam win-loss record for the year now stands at 18-0.

This is his third longest streak at Majors, the first coming in 2010-11 when he won the French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open in 2010, while reaching the quarterfinals of the 2011 Australian Open. Nadal won 25 consecutive matches in that period. The second was in 2008 with 19 wins on the trot. He won the French Open and Wimbledon, but lost in the semifinals of the US Open.

The 22-time Grand Slam champion's win against the 26-year-old Dutchman on Monday also meant that he has reached at least the quarterfinals of the last 16 Major events he has played. The last time Nadal lost before the last-eight stage of a Grand Slam was at Wimbledon in 2017 when Gilles Muller beat him in the fourth round. The Spaniard has shown tremendous consistency in the last five years.

Although it was a straight-sets victory, the third set continued to trouble the 36-year-old. All four matches have seen the Spaniard get broken in the third set at least once. Nadal failed to close out the first two matches after winning the first two sets, losing the third on both occasions.

The two players broke each other's serve twice in the third set before it went to a tie-break. It took the Spaniard four match points and an unforced error from van de Zandschulp to win the match.

Rafael Nadal faces Taylor Fritz in Wimbledon quarterfinals

Taylor Fritz and Rafael Nadal are 1-1 in the head-to-head

As the tournament progresses, things start to get more and more serious. Rafael Nadal will be up against World No. 14 Taylor Fritz in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. The 24-year-old, who beat Nadal earlier this year in the Indian Wells final, has not lost a single set in the four matches he has played so far at SW19.

The Spaniard realizes the challenge that he has to overcome to reach the semifinals of the grasscourt Major. In his on-court interview after the match, Nadal praised the American, who will be playing his first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal.

"He's playing well. He's having an amazing year, winning his first Masters 1000 — against me, by the way, in the final. It's going to be a tough match, but we are in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon, so what can I expect?" Nadal said.