Khachanov checked Nadal – and he is gaining excellent form. Sometimes plays like he's 18 again

Going for the 21st Slam?

In the third round Australian Open Karen Khachanov played with Rafael Nadal. For both, this match was an important test. Karen, who lost to the Spaniard in all seven previous meetings, he allowed to assess his progress since 2019, when he and Rafa met the last time. Nadal, returning from a foot injury and half a year away from the tour, is the current state against an opponent from the top 30.

Rafa passed the test better – 6:3, 6:2, 3 :6, 6:1.

Nadal said after the match that it was his best game since returning. In winning sets, he was really very good.

• The percentage of hitting the first serve was above 70, and the percentage of not taken in three sets ranged from 25 to 50. In the first set, Nadal generally lost only one point on the serve.

• On the plays, Nadal worked perfectly on his favorite maximum pressure pattern with minimal risk – he landed shots that flew high above the net and landed far from lines, but due to rotation, gravity and direction, they pulled Khachanov around the court and let Rafa put an end to it or squeeze out an error. Here is an accelerated version of the process.

– #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2022

• After the first lap we talked about Nadal’s backhand, and here he was also perfect – both as an attacking weapon and as a counterattack. Khachanov tried to attack this side, but Rafa met the ball early, quickly and allowed himself to be crushed in depth. He didn’t give up the initiative.

• Nadal’s problems started when he slowed down the levels of aggression and/or started making mistakes. For example, there was a segment in the second set, when Rafa, leading 40:15, gave a double, and then began to play too conservatively. This allowed Khachanov to be inspired and give out a couple of magical counterattacks.

— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) January 21, 2022

• That recession did not last long. Rafa played a break point with a classic deuce from the serve – outgoing + forehand into the open court. Then he put a good serve into the body, took a serve-and-volley gameball – and then, just in case, he also organized a second break for himself.

• Where the big problems arose in the third set, when Nadal’s decline turned out to be long, and Karen also had the best segment of the match. Khachanov then turned up the aggression and snitched 17 winners for the game – for the rest of the match there were 19.

• The Russian’s forehand worked amazingly, and it was from him that the ascent began – when Khachanov the score was 2:1, 0:40 in the game, Nadal fired a shot through. In the future, he inflicted huge damage throughout the set with devastating forehands, which came to that at the right moments – for example, when Rafa threatened to immediately win back the break. Nadal immediately changed. Firstly, he rushed to regain the initiative – for example, he stood closer to the back line at the reception (to reduce the ball’s flight time and prevent Khachanov from making long swings) and added aggression from the forehand.

— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) January 21, 2022

• Secondly, he started to defend himself like he was 18 again. In the fourth set, he made two breaks – both amazing dribblers from deep in the court. And we’ve seen all these shots from Nadal a million times, but it’s still impressive every time how he steals a point that he should have lost.

That si 🎶 to my 👂 pic.twitter.com/2bcnzwJEYt

— Nawal (@NawalNadal) January 21, 2022

And how then he celebrates with passion not a person who has won everything, but a talent hungry for victories.

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 21, 2022

• As a result, the set went according to the scenario of the first and second – Nadal made a break in the first game on the pitch Khachanov and then did not let go, but on the contrary, he only bit into it even more.

I want Nadal to win the 21st Grand Slam in Melbun, then this match should inspire optimism. Rafa has not yet become the main favorite of the tournament, but his game is getting better with each match.

In the fourth round he will play with Adrian Mannarino, who is physically

tortured Aslan Karatsev

. The Frenchman played a very high-quality match and dried up the game to an insane level – in the first set he made only one unforced error, in the second only six, and in just four sets 22 (with 32 winners). Karatsev, against his background, scored 86 unforced and 77 purely won goals.

But Mannarino’s main achievement was physical endurance. The match lasted 4 hours 48 minutes, ended at half past two in the morning, and for the last half hour Aslan had difficulty walking. He still continued to fight heroically, played three break points to prevent his opponent from leading with two breaks, but he didn’t have enough strength for more.

Former tennis player Jo Dury on the air of Eurosport compared what happened on the court in the last half an hour with torture, but while Karatsev could walk, they had amazing rallies.

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2022

Mini- Nadal Alcaras catches up with Rafa in muscle. And he is tormenting the tops with might and main – on Friday for 4 hours he fought with No. 7 in the world

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Photo:
REUTERS

/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake