Two-time champion Rafael Nadal staved off a late resistance from the 30th seeded Karen Khachanov of Russia for a 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(3) win in the third round of the 2017 Wimbledon Championships on Friday. This is the first time since 2014 that the fourth seed has made it to the fourth round of the prestigious grasscourt Slam.
Rafa finished with a whopping 41 winners against just 19 unforced errors.
The Spaniard has now won his last 28 sets in a row, having clinched his 10th French Open title last month without dropping a set. He next faces the big-serving Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, who is seeded 16th.
Absolute domination by Nadal in the opener
In a highly anticipated contest between the master and the apprentice, it was experience that stood out and by miles, especially in the opener. Young Khachanov, all of 21, has been touted as one of the brightest prospects on the ATP Tour. He had been making rapid strides in the run up to The Wimbledon Championships with a semi-final appearance at the Gerry Weber Open.
The World No. 34 brought out his attacking game right from the start by taking the ball early but the execution was atrocious. Overhitting time and again, he let the two-time champion soar high with confidence.
The long matches that he played en route to the third round which involved nine sets perhaps had robbed him of some intensity. In contrast, the World No. 2 Nadal was an energizer bunny, ready to pounce with every minute opportunity that he received.
The defence from the Spaniard was of sterling quality, thus relentlessly forcing the Russian to stumble.
Looking every bit the intimidating Nadal that dominated the French Open, the southpaw flew to a 4-0 start, making the Russian look very pedestrian. Nadal finally blinked in the fifth game, gifting the rising star a service break.
But that only delayed the inevitable as a rampant Nadal pocketed the opener, 6-1.
Khachanov did manage to polish his performance to some extent in the second set. The Spaniard, however, never backed off from his aggressive defence. The difference between the two was evident in the third game where Khachanov handed over a crucial break after a marathon service game.
That was all the 15-time Major winner needed to put one foot into the fourth round.
Nadal did not face even a single break point for the entirety of the set. Calm and composed as ever, the World No. 2 played with total abandon to cruise to 6-4.
The only area where the five-time finalist looked shabby in an otherwise impressive second set was the break point conversion rate which was a poor 13%.
Khachanov squanders set point in the third
A far more competitive third set ensued where Khachanov stayed toe-to-toe with his illustrious opponent. First, he denied the Spaniard an early break and then produced some ferocious hitting to earn himself a chance to make in-roads into Nadal’s service games.
As much as he mesmerised the Centre Court crowd with the depth of his shots, his inability to produce the hammer blow on break point coupled with a bad line call did not do him any favours. The set continued on serve till 5-5 after which Khachanov’s persistent efforts gave him another chance to make amends.
Pushing Nadal to the backhand wing consistently with heavy groundstrokes, he had a chance at grabbing the set. The former World No. 1 dashed all his hopes with his lightning speed and a cheeky dropshot on set point.
That certainly rattled the youngster and the set headed to a tie-break.
Khachanov was the first to blink with a forehand error and Nadal went up 3-2. The 15-time Major champion used his barrage of backhands to seal victory in 2 hours 14 minutes as Khachanov erred yet again.
What is the foot injury that has troubled Rafael Nadal over the years? Check here
