MELBOURNE. — Rafael Nadal battled through a huge test to make his 10th Australian Open tennis quarter-final yesterday. On an overcast and muggy day at Melbourne Park, the Spanish world number one was up against his most dangerous opponent yet in pocket-rocket Diego Schwartzman, one of the smallest men on tour.

The Argentine 24th seed endeared with his astonishingly powerful groundstrokes before Nadal prevailed 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-3 in almost four hours on Rod Laver Arena. It kept alive his push for a 17th Grand Slam title and also ensured he will remain number one will the new rankings come out after the tournament ends. “It was a great battle,” said Nadal, who is chasing his second Melbourne title after beating Roger Federer in the 2009 final. “Of course, I feel little bit tired, but I was able to keep fighting until the end.”

He will play sixth seed Marin Cilic for a place in the semi-finals after the Croat beat Spanish 10th seed Pablo Correna Busta 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-3).

The win was Cilic’s 100th at a Grand Slam.

“I have played great tennis from the first round against tough opponents and now I am really looking to the next match, it will be definitely be a big challenge,” he said of the Nadal clash.

Earlier on yesterday, former US Open champion Cilic became the first man into the quarter-finals when he ground down Spaniard Carreno Busta.

In an entertaining baseline duel at the Margaret Court Arena, sixth seed Cilic blew away Carreno Busta in the tiebreaks to celebrate his 100th grand slam win.

A former semi-finalist at Melbourne Park, Cilic also equalled Goran Ivanisevic’s Croatian record of 11 Grand Slam quarter-final appearances.

Carreno Busta showed heart to rally from a break down in the fourth set and push the match into a third tiebreak but was quickly overwhelmed by Cilic’s firepower as the Croatian brought up four match points in a hurry.

Cilic blew one of them by spraying a crosscourt shot wide but made no mistake on the second, hammering a huge first serve down the “T” and picking off the return with a straightforward forehand winner, bringing raucous cheers from the large Croatian contingent in the terraces. “It was an unbelievable match, a lot of ups and downs,” Cilic said in his on-court interview.

“Pablo came back and really gave me a lot of trouble . . . We had a lot of tough rallies so I was really glad how I stayed in there mentally.”

Britain’s Kyle Edmund reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time after coming from a set down to oust Italian Andreas Seppi 6-7(4) 7-5 6-2 6-3 in the fourth round of the Australian Open yesterday. — Reuters

 

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